A Better Life A Happier One
by Kasamira
Summary: Throughout life we all deserve the opportunity to say "what if...?" Here's Harry his best chance at a "what if...? kind of life. Taken back to Harry's third year at Hogwarts what if Pettigrew never escaped, if Sirius never had to go on the run? How would this affect Harry? How would his life as changed as Sirius's godson but as Heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The characters, and by characters I mean the following protagonists, antagonists, beings, creatures, mortals, mundanes, muggles, magically gifted, organisms, souls, and things are by no means of my own creation. These characters all belong to lovely Miss. JK Rowling who without this none of this would be possible. The only things in the following story which belongs to me (which I"m not I am by no means gaining monetary wealth by) is the creativity **cough** boredom **cough** which led to this point.

Summary: Throughout our lives we have always been permitted to sample the question: What if...? This is a hauntingly deceptive question that comes to live in dear Harry's life. The question of what if...? What if Sirius didn't flee from the green grounds of Hogwarts aback Buckbeak leaving behind him a flurry of Dementors, Professors, Teenagers, Ministry Officials, and a horid sense of confusion. Even more intriguing what if Pettigrew hadn't escaped his former friends clutches and scampered into the night? I think that's where I'll leave off...

Please enjoy the story my kind Lord's and Ladies...

"Your free," said Harry.

"Yes...," said Black. "But I'm also- I don't know if anyone ever told you- I'm your godfather."

"Yeah, I knew that," said Harry.

"Well... your parents appointed me your guardian," said BLack stiffly. "If anything happened to them..."

Harry waited. Did Black mean what he thought he meant?

"I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle," said Black. "But... well... think about it. Once my name's cleared... if you want a … a different home..."

Harry felt something tight in his chest, it was a foreign sensation, pushing up between his lungs and bubbling up his throat making a started noise escape from his mouse unbidden to his own control.

"Do... do you mean? Come live with you?" Harry's voice was breathless, just trying to reign that sensation back down to the pit of his stomach. Trying not to hope.

His godfather was quick in response, Black's eyes not looking at him as if expecting rejection or to be spurned, "I understand if that's not your wish, I would never take you away from your family." his eyes were earnest and understanding, but pained nevertheless.

"No!" the half shout came from the green eyed teens mouth almost inately. "No, no, no! Of course I'd want to live with you." the words simply seemed to fail Harry, and that feeling was back in his chest, pushing between his lungs, but no longer was it half painful it was golden and warm suffusing Harry with happiness. As he started to let himself hope.

The expression on Black-no Sirius's face changed from slightly embarrassed and humble to an appearance of an emotion Harry had never seen before on his face: unadulterated bliss. The smile-that same laughing smile as at his parents wedding- crossed over Sirius's face, it broke away the mask, melted away the dirt, the grime, and the half starved appearance. All at once the man looked a decade younger.

The trip up to the castle was quiet, they were still in the tunnel, and Harry spent most of the time contemplating, trying (and failing) not to lose himself in what felt like a dream, a brilliant, bloody wonderful dream. As Crookshanks darted out from around his leg and nudged the knot on the tree Harry couldn't stop from glancing up at Sirius as though trying to make sure he was still there, that the other wizard hadn't disappeared suddenly from his sight. Oddly enough the other wizard seemed to be trying to do the same to Harry, trying to make sure that he wouldn't evaporate from his presence like mist in the wake of Dementors.

One by one they all climbed up past the (now harmless) Whomping Willow until all of them were standing quietly, Snape's robes tangling in the Willow's thick appendages. Professor Lupin turned towards the whimpering Pettigrew warningly, his eyes flashing a shocking amber color, and Pettigrew let out a sound that was nearly a wail. Lupin didn't feel the need to say anything further. Making their way up the grounds towards the castle that loomed ever nearer in the darkness surrounding the students and their chaperones. They were greeted by the Headmaster before ever reaching the entrance to the castle.

Oddly enough Dumbledore didn't say anything at all, merely observed their comings in a way that seemed curiously less than welcoming. As they drew ever nearer Harry noticed for the first time that the twinkle had left Dumbledore's blue eyes, and the expression on his face was just like the one he'd been given while gazing into the Mirror of Erised. A feeling of being x-rayed, taken apart at the seams and then looked over carefully for any flaws or shortcomings.

Explaining the situation seemed to be endless, especially when Professor McGonagall and Flitwick appeared on his left and right respectively. Where had they been? For Neville, Ginny, Dean, Seamus, and several other Gryffindors had noticed their absence and reported it. Why was Professor Snape unconscious? Who was the other man with them? And why the bloody HELL (not that those were the exact words used) were three teenagers and one professor in the presence of a convicted murderer whose mission had purportedly been to end one of those teenager's lives?

Needless to say some clearing up was in order. Thankfully the bonds on Pettigrew would hold him by magic as long as he was in his human form (and once the accusation of not only who he was but WHAT Pettigrew was had been made to McGonagall) there was an immediate charm placed on his bonds so that no Animagus transformations were possible. After that everything went downhill; Ron, Hermione, and Harry were taken to the Hospital Wing to be left at the tender mercies of Madame Pomfrey, Flitwick had alerted the Ministry and the Aurors were on their way, Snape was being awakened (thankfully not in any of the Gryffindor students presence), and in no time the Minister of Magic himself was there.

They had all collected in Dumbledore's office, they being; McGonagall, Flitwick, Dumbledore, Sirius, Fudge and two Aurors. Oddly enough Dumbledore himself had been curiously silent in the face of these fairly startling new revelations and of course the Minister's blustering.

"-got him now I say! For sure! The Prophet will have a field day with this. Aurors on Hogwarts grounds capturing Black in mid attempt of the kidnapping and murder of three students and a Professor. Why Dawlish if we hurry now we can still make the morning edition of the Prophet! Election yea"

"SILENCE!" the shout came from the Headmaster. However it wasn't the shouted word that caused Fudge to quiet himself but the person it had come from, not a single person in that room could everyone remember a time that Dumbledore had lost control like this. The twinkle that was so usually apparent in his eyes was now only a distant icy memory in wake of this new startling turn of events.

Dumbledore's eyes turned swiftly to the two Aurors, "Dawlish, Shacklebolt I believe it is mandatory for Senior Field Aurors to carry doses of Veritaserum is it not."

A nod came from each of them (both ignoring the Ministers outraged expression-it was a common sight at the office)

"Well then," Dumbledore said, a bit more warmth seeping back into his voice, "then I believe we have a matter to settle then, you have two suspects who have either together or separately perpetrated a plot against three young third years at my school."

The implied order was received, Dumbledore was the Chief Warlock at the Wizengamot after all that said much more about a persons magical and political status then Minister ever did.

The suspects were seated firmly into two chairs, and three drops of Veritaserum were placed on their tongues. Sirius was first to be questioned by Dumbledore,

"Is your name Sirius Black."

A certain dreamlike quality appeared in front of their eyes, an almost milky film as if they had suddenly lost their sight.

"Yes."

"Did you lure Harry Potter out of school after night in an attempt to kill him."

"No." Startled looks were exchanged all around the office.

Did you intend to kill either Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, or this unknown man beside you?"

"Yes," the Minister's expression turned to one of triumph, as the vein in his temple that had been throbbing and turning his face an awful magenta color lessened in its hammering, but his facial expression regained even more of its ruddiness when Sirius continued speaking.

"I intended to kill Peter Pettigrew, for the murder of Lily and James Potter, I was going to kill him but I never intended to harm anyone else."

Fudge was sputtering again, "PETTIGREW IS DEAD! This man killed him thirteen years ago! I"m not going to stand here listening to this!"

"I'm afraid Minister that Black is most certainly telling the truth, you witnessed your Aurors themselves administering the Veritaserum." McGonagall coolly informed him looking like she was going to say more when Sirius spoke up again in response to Fudge's hidden question.

"I did not kill thirteen Muggles, that was Peter's doing." his voice has an inflectionless mundane quality as though Sirius himself could not have cared less about what he was saying.

The small room was once again filled with MInister Fudge's blustering exclamation of denial. And on his stand Fawkes let out a trilling note.

Up in the Hospital Wing Harry lied blissfully unaware of the events occurring just a few rooms away. He was for all the world to know in those moments lying in that Hospital Wing bed a child. A child with the feelings of wonder and excitement so strong they kept his eyes open and his hands trembling, fighting against the Dreamless Sleep Potion that Madame Pomfrey had given him. While Harry might have had nightmares in those moments, nightmares of Sirius returning to Azkaban, of Pettigrew escaping, and of Snape killing him for attacking his Professor.

Only happy thoughts filled the young third year's head as he sank further into the oblivion of sleep, his hands gently stopped trembling, brilliant emerald eyes closed slowly as Harry Potter sank into a most forgiving slumber.


	2. Chapter 2: The Aftermath

Disclaimer: Totally, completely, absolutely, everly, fulfillingly, extendingly, ly, ly, not mine

Thank you my lovely Lord's and Ladies for reading, I would wish you a fruitful and blissful day in all of your happenings and endeavors but furthermore enjoy the story.

Chapter 2: Aftermath

The end of the school year brought with it unbidden feelings to the surface of Harry's mind that rarely accompanied any of his thoughts when returning home for the summer. They weren't thoughts of dread, revulsion, fear, and pain that came to the fore front of his minds anymore when thoughts of summer came creeping into his head.

He was back in Gryffindor Tower, unharmed, he'd only had a few cuts and bruises on him but Madame Pomfrey had still wanted to keep him over night. The woman could mend bones in minutes, the minor scratches on his arms and face from the Whomping Willow hadn't needed more than a wave of her wand. Ron had been worst off, being forced to stay through the night to make sure the bone had mended, and Hermione had been in the same boat as Harry. However without Harry's insistence she would have ended up staying the night listening to Ron snore.

Everything felt lighter now, as though the darkness that had been haunting him last night in an aura of bad intentions had dropped five pounds off him.

Harry smiled, now I get that Muggle saying 'I"m walking on sunshine'. Strolling into the Great Hall for breakfast he made his way over to the Gryffindor table in good spirits greeting Neville on his way and taking a seat next to Ron and Hermione who'd been released earlier in the morning.

They were just about to begin eating when Dumbledore rose to his feet, almost immediately a hush fell over the students. All eyes looking curiously towards the Staff Table. Looking at the teachers Harry took in Dumbledore, where the twinkle had come back in his eyes but looked severely dimmed, to McGonagall whose lips were pursed in a severe line, to Flitwick to appeared positively distressed in his seated position.

And finally to Snape, who appeared positively gleeful, his obsidian eyes shining with menace, the man looked positively ready to cackle.

Finally Dumbledore spoke, "It is with great sadness that I'm here to inform you all about the resignation of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Lupin. He was once a student here just like all of you, and studied in these great halls and did all of those things with success just as in teaching. Which is why I would ask of each and every one of you not to take into account the rumors or sayings from either your peers or the Board of Directors or the Prophet." And with that the old wizard sat down.

As soon as the Headmaster had sit down whispers had broken out across the hall, sneers were thrown in on the faces of many of his classmates, and Harry could already hear gossiping voices coming from the Gryffindor table in the form of Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown.

Harry turned his gaze toward Hermione, a question apparent in his eyes, and the witch beside him needed no prompting to answer.

"I don't know Harry, it seems utterly bewildering to me, for Dumbledore to say that... and the our immediate reaction... it seems almost like Muggle Reverse Psychology-" she was cut off by the arrival of the mail.

Soon it was apparent to them with the headline of the Daily Prophet exclaiming,

"SIRIUS BLACK DECLARED INNOCENT OF ALL CHARGES"

and right below that midway down the front cover,

"WEREWOLF ALLOWED TO TEACH AT HOGWARTS"

The whispers in the Great Hall increased by ten fold to excited exclamations and shocked cries of,

"No bloody way!"

"Innocent! How can that bastard be innocent!"

"Werewolves! Dumbledore's losing it!"

"How am I going to sleep at night knowing a mass murder was let into the castle!"

"We all could have been killed!"

"Dumbledore's gone off the deep end! Lupin could have killed us all!"

The shouting seemed to finally seemed to die down enough that people were actually able to read the paper, instead of gawking at all the headlines. A frantic hush fell over the crowd as their eyes scanned the paper manically trying to be the first to finish so they could keep talking about it.

_By Rita Skeeter Daily Prophet Reporter_

_Last night at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry a man wanted for murder was captured by Aurors-infamous mass murderer Sirius Black- the Minister, with the help of Aurors, was put into the custody of the MInistry. Later back in the Headmaster's study it was confirmed reportedly with the help of Veritaserum that Black was not in fact guilty of all the charges bestowed on him. Not only had the man not killed those Muggles thirteen years ago, Black also hadn't killed Pettigrew, and had been proven not to have caused the deaths of Lily and James Potter thirteen years ago._

_This man has been futhermore cleared from all charges, given a full pardon, and a most sincere apology from the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge. The man who is now reportedly a suspect in the those thirteen Muggle murders, and in the conspiracy to kill Lily and James Potter is to be Peter Pettigrew himself. Pettigrew is believed to be at large after escaping from a Ministry cell that was unable to hold him._

_Readers be warned Pettigrew is an Animagus and is known to be extremely dangerous, do not approach if you see this man. Instead contact the Ministry of Magic immediately._

Hermione was enraged. "They didn't put that rat in an Animagus cell! Well then, what was the whole bloody point of taking that-that thing, knowing it could turn into a rat, and putting it into some common cell. Why not just give the thing to the Muggle authorities." Ron's mouth had fallen open, food from breakfast fully exposed, eyes growing wide. Harry was just as shocked by Hermione's language and derogatory remarks about Pettigrew, he just hid it alittle better than the sausage, toast, and eggs in Ron's mouth.

Harry sighed, "I'm just relieved that Sirius has been proven not guilty. Besides what's Pettigrew going to do? The rat has no resources, no friends, no wand, and isn't able to turn into a human without the entire Wizarding and Muggle worlds being on the lookout for him." It was a small comfort, that everyone was searching, Sirius had been searched for nearly an entire year by both worlds and had never been caught what was there to say Pettigrew was unable to do the same.

In truth Harry was much more disappointed about Lupin leaving as DADA professor, the man had been the best teacher they'd ever had. And who knew what kind of moron they'd be placed with next year, maybe another Lockhart.

Besides, it was their last meal at Hogwarts during their third year, to end it on such a sour note would be pointless considering the summer that lied ahead for them. No Dursleys.

The train ride to King's Cross was silent; Hermione was quietly playing chess with Ron, Neville was reading a Herbology book, and Harry was silently staring out the window. Contemplating his last twenty-four hours at school absently twirling his wand, the end was slowly spinning out blue bubbles, which Harry then froze with an absent touch of his wand.

The hustle and bustle of King's Cross Station was comforting in its normality. Friends said goodbye, parents said hello, there was the trains shrill whistle and escape of smoke. The slamming of trunks onto carts, and the cries of animals in their cages.

Harry's own goodbyes were said to Hermione, Ron, and Neville with Hermione spotting her parents, Ron going off with his sister and the twins, and Neville's grandmother finding him. She was a formidable looking woman, Harry noticed Mrs. Longbottom looked almost as severe as Prof. McGonagall had looked to him on the first day of classes.

There seemed to be no sign of Sirius however, the man had left a letter for him in the Hospital Wing promising Harry that he'd be there on Platform 9 ¾. The green eyed teen swallowed, 'perhaps he'd forgotten?'

Nevertheless Harry walked quickly through the barrier, only to be confronted with a series of flashing lights as it appeared there was quite a large commotion. Once his eyes had adjusted from being blinded by the camera flash Harry noticed that there seemed to be a large crowd of photographers and reporters present on the Platform. And right in the center of it, practically being mobbed was Sirius.

The man spotted Harry immediately when he came through, Sirius's eyes were alight giving the reporters a scathing look the man strode through the crowd like the people practically attacking were nothing more than dust bunnies or apparitions. There but completely transparent, practically unnoticeable, and certainly nothing to concern one's self with.

Placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and turned on his heel. Sirius and Harry disappeared with a loud CRACK that snapped through the air leaving the reporters reeling. Behind them one of the reporters sniffed loudly, "The nerve of him Apparating like that! How rude."

**AN**- Hello everyone, and thank you for reading. Please do feel free to comment, review, and give me tons and tons of juicy ideas I can work into the story. For the next chapter I'm planning Sirius to take Harry to Grimmauld Place, and maybe get into a little family history. As always my delightful Lord's and Ladies don't hesitate to ask any questions, and if any of you are interested in being my Beta please just leave a comment below. :)

May the odds ever be in your favor,

Kasamira


	3. Chapter 3: Revelations

Disclaimer: I in no way shape form or in any other parallel worlds do I own these characters (although I can't be completely positive I"m not claiming credit out in those AU's one never knows what they themselves might have the inclinations of doing)

Hello once again my Lovely Lords and Ladies, it is with great pleasure I inform you that I"ve completed another chapter. After reading your reviews I was inspired :) and was blessed with a burst of inspiration...

Reviews:

I would like to thank you all so much for your reviews :) they really encouraged me about this story. So without further ado... please enjoy

All at once Harry couldn't breath. Sirius had grabbed his shoulder and the next instant King's Cross Station had disappeared and taken all of its hustle and bustle with it, not to mention the rabid reporters who had been snapping at Sirius as though he were a Blood Replenishing Potion and they were the vampires.

The light around him had turned dark, and for a brief instant everything was cold, Harry could feel the wind whipping around his hair, and the green eyed teen's stomach felt like it had taken a trip off the Astronomy Tower with no broom or Levitation Charm keeping him up. But that wasn't yet the worst part- his insides were twisting into what felt like convoluted knots, his stomach was going up through his throat, his intestines were looping around themselves like snakes he couldn't master. But the worst sensation was the feeling of being squeezed, squeezed until his eyes popped, and his bones were compressed in on each other, the marrow slipping out from their center.

Then all at once as soon as this horrible terrifying ordeal had started, it was over. And the blacked haired wizard was left gasping frantically falling into another body next to him, entire body trembling with aftershocks. A cold sweat had come over him and Harry's hands were clenching and unclenching at his sides.

Sirius was immediately at his side, apologies pouring from his mouth like a tap faucet, concen twisting his features as Harry opened his eyes. What the boy saw would have shocked anyone. Sirius Black, the same man who had been on the run for over a year, and had been in Azkaban for over a decade before that, the same emaciated wizard who had towed an unconscious Snape while in the cave was young. Not just young when compared to Dumbledore but compared to the last time Harry'd seen the man he easily looked two and a half decades younger.

Like a man in his early twenties. No longer a half starved corpse.

But Sirius was still talking.."idn't expect you to have that kind of power, thought Apparition would be fine- doesn't normally cause harm the first time time until your over seventeen-with a wizards inheritance-most normal thirteen year olds would be fine."

He led the shaking boy into a house that had just appeared as if out of thin air.

Harry became aware once more as he was laid onto a couch, slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position, shoving the large circular glasses back up his nose, the young boy gazed at Sirius questionably,

"What was that?"

The older man chuckled a bit, handing his godson a glass of water and sitting in an moldy armchair beside him, "That's called Apparating, its a form of transportation for wizards like the Floo or Muggle Teleportation."

Harry looked up at him, "Will it always hurt like that?" if so he couldn't ever imagine learning something like that.

"No," Sirius said shaking his head, "It's not supposed to be nearly as bad as that, a little uncomfortable yes, but not like that. Most children don't react in that way to their first experience with Apparition."

"Then why did it happen?"

Sirius looked at him contemplatively, then shook his head," The only logical reason would be that your magic has matured faster than normally, which does sometimes happen with Muggle borns because they haven't been around magical folk their whole lives."

Harry was confused, "But why would being around Muggles make my magic mature faster? And-and magic can mature? It doesn't always stay the same?"

"Stay the same, of course not. As you grow your magic grows with you getting stronger slowly as a wizard or witch gets older, until when you seventeen you'll get a magical boost on your birthday when you come to your magical maturity. As for why your magic would mature more quickly around you muggle relatives that's because when a magical child is around his or her wizarding parents the child will feed off the magic around them. They can't do that with muggles, that then forces their magic to mature faster to survive, if a child's magic didn't mature at a faster pace than it would begin to weaken being from being in the muggle world." his godfather cocked his head to the right reminding Harry immediately of his Animagus form, "they don't teach you this at Hogwarts in History of Magic, when I was in Hogwarts we learned that in our first year?

Harry snorted, "The only thing Binns teaches us in History of Magic is about the Goblin Wars."

His godfather looked positively disturbed, "What are you being taught then?" For a second Harry paused, then thought about it. Thought about what a joke Divination had been with Professor Trelawney's stifling attic classroom she never came out of, who used death predictions and too much incense in her teaching. Keeping dream journals every day even though most of them didn't dream but once a month, and staring into the crystal ball with nothing but smoke blowing into their faces.

About Binn's constant lectures about the Goblin wars, uprisings, and rebellions. How he couldn't remember any of their names, and sometimes drifted through the floor while teaching.

Out of their last three DADA professors two had nearly killed him, Quirrell had stuttered so much no one had garnered a single piece of information from his class that was relevant. And with Lockhart, who'd been unable to perform the correct wand movements for a simple blocking spell, who'd ended up being a complete fraud had also set loose Cornish Pixies on a class of second years.

Snape with his constant ridiculing of any house other than the Slytherins, his fear and intimidation tactics along with constant belittling of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. There was no dispute that Snape was a brilliant Potions Master the man should never have been permitted to teach children. In a muggle school Snape would have been sacked on his insults alone, never mind the threats the man had made against his students.

Even Hagrid couldn't claim to be qualified to be a Professor at school, while the man clearly did understand what he was talking about Hagrid, in Harry's view, was a bit too naive to teach. Hagrid consistently believed that creatures were good, just misunderstood. But most importantly Hagrid hadn't even finished school- he'd been expelled and his wand snapped. That in itself proved that if there was a dangerous situation to occur during classes the man would be unable to protect them in any way other than physically. Magically the man would have been able to be of any assistance.

Harry dearly loved Hagrid but he simply didn't believe the other man was best suited for his job.

And finally Harry thought about Dumbledore, Dumbledore the wizard who had hired all of those people, that did cause him some confusion. The Headmaster had taught before, so why, was he incapable now of at least helping out with the teachers.

Dumbledore was the same wizard who he trusted so much. For the very first time Harry wondered if his trust in the Headmaster was warranted, and he wondered why he trusted the man so much. After all, how well did he truly know the man. They hadn't had more than three or four conversations together alone. "It was the idea of him," Harry thought, "that caused me to trust him so much," because the older wizard was, after all, Dumbledore: Defeater of Grindelwald, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and holder of so many other titles.

However when looking at the man himself Dumbledore seemed to fall short somehow; he was the same man who had placed him with the Dursley's, who'd never checked up on him once in those twelve years. Didn't the wizarding world have some sort of Child Protective Services? It seemed bewildering to him that a school teacher would be in charge of which family he'd be placed with. Didn't he have other relatives in the magical world.

After all of this long contemplation Harry finally looked up at Sirius, who did appear to understand what he'd been thinking about and nodded.

"Remember Harry I was on the Hogwarts grounds all year, I was able to observe both the students and the teachers, quite honestly I was surprised by what I saw." the Animagus seemed almost disappointed.

Finally Harry looked up at Sirius to ask a question that seemed off topic, but it was one he'd been burning to get a suitable answer to.

"Why was I placed with the Dursley's? If it wasn't good for my magical health why would Dumbledore place me there? Do I have any family in the wizarding world?"

Sirius appeared to understand what he was asking, "I'm afraid the reason is something you won't find satisfactory, you see Harry when your parents died in Godric's Hollow all those years ago your mother, in an attempt to save you, sacrificed her own life for yours. This is old magic, powerful magic don't misunderstand what I'm saying, called Blood Magic. And blood magic will always constitute a sacrifice, a give and take from two different things, its the most basic cause and effect scenario." here Sirius paused, seeming a bit haggard at Harry's lack of knowledge.

"You should have learned this in your first year of HIstory of Magic, but when Lily sacrificed her life for yours it was out of love. Love is the emotion that binds the Blood Magic, and that love protects you from the Dark Lord. Lily's sacrifice was aimed at protecting you from the Dark Lord and because it was out of love when the Dark Lord attempted to cause you harm he triggered Lily's Blood Magic to once more go into effect."

Here Sirius paused and looked at him very solemnly, trying to impress upon Harry the seriousness of the matter they were discussing. Blood Magic was the oldest and simplest form of magic, it wasn't sullied or tarnished by spoken words in Latin but rather by the pure intentions that came from the caster. It was the only type of magic other than Soul Magic that was capable of lasting after death, which was proven by Harry's continued protection from any harm coming to him from the Dark Lord.

"You were placed with the Dursley's because they are your closest living relatives, and as such were supposed to strengthen the Blood Magic around you, the theory being your aunt and cousins love would empower Lily's sacrifice even further. However this unfortunately appears to have had the opposite effect." His godfather's eyes were piercing as they gazed down at him, before the other man lowered his voice softly, it became kinder as though trying not to spook him.

"Harry Blood Magic is less often used modernly because of MInistry restrictions on "Dark Magic" however my family, the Black's," here the dark haired wizard grinned roguishly, "were never ones for following the rules, I grew up around Blood Magic, I should have been able to sense the wards that would be protecting you. Instead I feel... neglect, as if they've been unattended for quite a long period of time... in fact it appears as if Lily's sacrifice has been diminished." Sirius looked at him gently, not pressuring him, but needing to know, the man's eyes were calm and gentle, but underneath that gentleness Harry saw something much different brewing, a sort of blazing righteousness that all Gryffindors seemed to possess.

"The Dursley's never really liked me, I mean... I know they hated magic. They told me that my parents died in a car accident." here the green eyed teen paused wondering if he should continue, but at Sirius's urging face proceeded haltingly.

"They-they got mad when I d-did accidental magic, turned my teachers hair blue, when my hair grew right back after haircuts, made things float when I touched them," now that he'd begun the words were starting to pour in a rush from his mouth, "they'd lock me in the cupboard under the stairs for a long time, I wouldn't go to school for weeks, but most of the time they'd just ignore me, try to act like I didn't exist. I'd do the housework, then spend the rest of the day at the park and only come back after dark when everyone was asleep." here Harry had to stop, he was babbling and felt if he continued the churning feeling in the pit of his stomach wouldn't stop.

Thankfully Sirius stopped him, cupping the sides of his face and staring into his godson's emerald green eyes, his own jade blue irises gazing steadily back.

"Harry did they hit you." And it was those five words that broke him, cracked Harry wide open at the edges and brought him down. In that moment, completely unable to respond the young boy just started back helplessly at Sirius, fearing if he did attempt to speak those cracks would become large gaping holes opening wide for a flood of...of something. Tears maybe. Emotion definitely. Thankfully his godfather seemed to understand, and from the heartfelt expression on his face Sirius knew he was couldn't respond to the not question, both because Harry couldn't and wouldn't speak it aloud.

Speaking something like that aloud... made it real. But, but Sirius understood, the man didn't need Harry to say anything, the Animagus seemed to understand that no words could answer the statement of truth he had made.

So Sirius said nothing, nothing at all, because no words of expressed emotion were needed. His godfather merely grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a tight embrace. His arms seemed to wrap around and surround his entire body, Harry's head buried into Sirius's shoulder, it was like Mrs. Weasley's hugs he finally realized. But not as smothering, it was warm, simple, but yet encompassing, and felt like he had been immersed into a pool of warm water so that it cushioned him from all sides and angles. Harry could feel Sirius's magic floating around and floating at the edge of his vision, like it was simply waiting in the wings, waiting for Harry's own acceptance, as Sirius's magic also embraced him with a welcoming hum

"Safety...home." his own magic whispered back in response, "love."

AN- I wanted to end that chapter on a soft note. Originally it was going to be quite a bit longer, but I don't want to overwhelm anyone with information, there were a lot of realizations in this chapter and I felt it would be too much to continue. As for the abuse/neglect at the Dursley's I wasn't sure how much I should get into, in this chapter I wanted Harry to understate what had happened but for Sirius to understand what had happened to Harry and to empathize as well. I mentioned that Sirius grew up around Blood Magic and Dark Magic, he's still going to have a less than happy relationship with his parents but I want this Sirius to be more understanding of his families intentions for him. That they might not have been all bad. Other than that I would like to thank you my lovelies for the wonderful reviews :)

Your friend in time,

* Kasamira


	4. Chapter 4: Explorations and Findings

Hello my lovely Lord's and Ladies of the Realm. It is with great pleasure I'm able to inform you that this chapter is ready for posting.

So I'll get all of the necessary nasties out of the way because I do not in any way shape or form own any of the characters or ideas expressed in this fic nor am I making any money off of it.

So with that out of the way I'd just love to thank each and every one of you for all of your kind support and reviews, seeing as how I've gotten absolutely nothing but positive comments and displays from the lot of you. I've even had a beta offer that I believe I shall accept. So without further ado please do enjoy.

Chapter four: Explorations... and Findings.

Life at Grimmauld Place was unlike anything Harry had ever experienced before. He'd never been inside another wizarding home before except for the Weasley's, and that had been far different.

At the Weasley's the dishes washed themselves and sonic booms coming from upper levels of the house were common, at Number 13 there was a screeching portrait of Sirius's mother that cursed whenever anyone made loud noises. Thankfully, after being awoken on his very first night at Number 13 to the portrait raining down curses on her entire family and the incessant banging Mrs. Black caused Sirius had Silenced his mother and put a Sticking Charm on the shutters that enclosed her portrait. Explaining that his mother had commissioned the portrait to remain there after her death and that a Permanent Sticking Charm held her in place so that she was unable to be removed.

Furthermore at Grimmauld Place everything seemed to be cursed, the banister leading to the second floor at a trick step (similar to the ones at Hogwarts) that had killed Sirius's great great uncle. A robe on the third floor which was spelled to strangle all who came near it, and a multitude of boxes in the attic which were filled with Doxies.

Doxies were vile little beasts that had embedded themselves into the walls and ceiling and would viciously attack anyone who came into their domain. The little creatures had poisonous claws and teeth, that couldn't kill humans but were fully capable of taking down birds, cats, mice, and even dogs.

Exploring the house would have been out of the question had Mrs. Weasley been there, however as long as Harry stayed out of the attic and didn't touch anything outside the family rooms then the green eyed teen was free to navigate throughout the haunted house to his heart's content. The boy had been especially eager after his godfather had informed him that they were only staying a week, until Black Manor could be made habitable for human life. At those words Harry hadn't even wanted to imagine what could reside in a larger, older, and darker version of Grimmauld Place. However the last Black wizard had assured Harry that before the Black family had come to England Black Manor had been their ancestral home since the Czars had been in power in Russia.

So far Harry had gone through Sirius's old room. It was a room that spoke of two things; a casual elegance that the older Black brother seemed to carry easily, and rebellion. Gryffindor paraphernalia was scattered both far, wide, and in large quantities around the room. Gryffindor banners of red and gold over layed the room along with a variety of old school books from Sirius's Hogwart's days.

Walburga Black's room which he hadn't gotten a very good look at, because it appeared that a nest of Doxies had also built a nest there as well. Harry had only managed to open the door before being attacked, though thankfully not bitten. He'd given up on that room, there was no point in trying to go back without magic.

Sirius's father; Orion Black's room had been less dangerous. And had contained a smattering of magical tomes and texts all centered on warding, Harry had found an antique ring with the Black Family crest on it on the bed side table, along with the Black family motto Always Pure emboldened on the wall above the bed. However the contents of Orion Black's bedside drawer had garnered the most interest from Harry, because underneath some pieces of blank parchment and a few quills they contained a large amount of papers with Sirius's and Regulus's signatures on them. Upon closer examination Harry realized that they were Hogwarts essays, OWL, and NEWT scores for each of his sons.

'He'd kept the,' the green eyed boy realized, even after disowning Sirius and after Sirius's brother had died. In the drawer with the essays Harry also found a single picture; of two boys about nine or ten years old. They were both laughing arms thrown around each other, in Quidditch gear with broom slung over their shoulders and a snitch clutched in the younger's hand. One the back it was dated August 21, 1970: Sirius and Regulus.

'Right before he'd gone to Hogwarts,' Harry realized. Glancing quickly around, as if for hidden spies in the walls, Harry surreptitiously slipped the photo into his inner robe pocket.

He wanted to remember Sirius and his brother that way for a while, not hardened by Azkaban and the Wizarding War. Young, carefree, and innocent laughing with hisbrother after playing Quidditch on a hot summer day. All before the complications of the world had entered either of their lives.

The final room Harry entered belonged to Regulus Arcturus Black, as indicated on the sign above his door. Like Sirius's room it was bathed in his school house's colors; green and silver. It was slightly smaller than Sirius's room but both shared the same sort of effortless elegance about it, and like his father's room Regulus had the Black motto in French Toujours Pur written above his bed in rubenesque calligraphy.

On the walls were a collection of pictures all taken from what appeared to be the Hogwart's grounds, by the lake, the Quidditch pitch, the Forbidden Forest, even one of the Giant Squid. The bed was made of heavy material, no doubt for the cold English winters, and a deep green. As Harry glanced away something caught his eye, golden and metallic like a Snitch.

Frowning he quietly made his way across the room to see that the object in question partially hidden under the velvet comforter. Grasping the gold chain tightly in his hand, Harry pulled the object into the light.

It was a locket, a golden locket about the size of a chicken's egg, with an elaborate and ornate S on one side which had been suffused with small emeralds until the locket seemed to capture the light and draw it in, like a black hole nothing escaped from it. It felt warm in his hands, as though it had been left in the sun, but Harry was able to discern easily that it wasn't the sun's heat keeping the locket warm (for it probably hadn't seen sunlight outside the house in the twelve years since Regulus had died) but instead the small hum of magic surrounded it.

Just like last night when Sirius had embraced him, almost exactly the same aura now surrounded the green eyed boy. Undoubtedly dark, but also warm and comforting like he'd found a piece of himself without ever knowing it was missing. Harry wondered if he should find that troubling.

It was especially irritating that he was unable to open it, Harry's fingers were easily able to find purchase in the clasp but every time his fingers curled around it they would slip-as if by magic- away.

'Why wouldn't the wretched thing open!'

Finally the young teen pulled back his arms and observed the locket shrewdly in his hands, 'it could be cursed,' he thought. But cursed not to open? That would be ridiculous! All the other objects in the Black house that were cursed had been done so in a way that was meant to injure or maim at the very least, cursing something not to open was doing the opposite. It was almost as though it had been cursed to protect him from opening it.

Golden locket, emeralds adorning a large S that covered one side. Harry felt ridiculous for even harboring the thought that it might be what he thought it was, after all how many people found an artifact from the four founders in their godfather's brother's rooms. Even so, it would be worth the try, just to open it at to set his own preposterous allusions to rest.

It wasn't hard at all, the green eyed teen found looking at the locket to imagine a snake in replace of the S, wasn't hard at all to let the locket's magic sink its tendrils into him and burrow down deep. The magic didn't feel... no, that wasn't the right word... it didn't taste threatening on his tongue the way the magic the robe upstairs that strangled its wearers did.

This magic felt like home, like the two of them were puzzle pieces that had been made to fit together.

So, really it wasn't hard at all to let the soft hiss of 'Open' cross his lips and fall upon the locket. What was hard was Harry's shock that the thing actually opened.

What was inside shocked the boy even further. For it was a man, a portrait actually, inside of the locket. It was a man with black wavy hair that fell into his blue eyes, with skin as pale as a vampire's or a man that hadn't seen the sun in months.

He appeared to be in a very small portrait, certainly the tiniest one Harry had ever seen, and behind the man Harry was able to make out what appeared to be a library, as books upon shelves upon shelves of old texts and tomes laid behind him. One even appeared to be spread out in front of him on a table. As soon as the Gryffindor student had opened the Locket, which was now known to be Slytherin's Locket, the wavy haired man's eyes had snapped forward to gaze at him.

Eyes that looked as though they wished to slice straight through his spine.

"Who... are you?" the man demanded to know, his voice was surprised but demanding nonetheless.

Harry cocked his head to the side slightly gazing at the portrait with open curiosity,

"I'm Harry Potter, who are you?"

If anything the portrait seemed even more shocked at his answer, as though the man had been expecting a whole different person altogether. He couldn't have been expecting Regulus, as Harry was quite certain the man hadn't been able to speak the Parseltongue required to open Slytherin's Locket.

The portrait hesitated, as if wondering whether an answer should be provided, then apparently deciding to grant Harry with one, he spoke for the first time.

"Marvolo Gaunt."

At those words Harry stilled, and pure unadulterated fear coursed through him, and unlike the soft warm glow that had been radiated by the locket, this feeling was ice cold, as though the teen had been immersed in the Great Lake during the dead of winter. His mind going back to just over a year ago... deep beneath the protective walls of Hogwarts, under the lake.

The walls slick and cold... a dimly lit stone chamber... twin towering pillars with carved serpents that seemed more alive than stone guiding up to a ceiling so high it was hidden in the shadows cast from the enclosure.

Remembering the feeling of a thousand serpentine eyes following him... feet echoing off the wet stone... eerie hisses echoing... Speak... Speak to Me... words drowned out by the running of feet as they slammed into the cold stone beneath him... of the Hogwart's Four.

Warmth... horrible warmth drenching down Harry's arm, from his elbow down his wrist and past the green eyes boy's finger tips

drip... drip... drip on the stone rivulets on the floor.

Awful searing pain... having to pull the long venomous fang from his arm... in prevention from allowing it to sink deeper and deeper into his body. Slicing through skin, flesh, sinews, and muscle like it was made of butter. All ask white hot pain spread like an infection through the Gryffindor's body, melting across his eyelids like a visual dirge. Blood soaking through his robes... and the horrible ice cold laughter that doused his body but didn't manage to pierce through the fogginess of basilisk venom. As Tom watched him die on the floor.

Words piercing him to his core like flame, "You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry."

Marvolo Gaunt... Marvolo.

Who was Harry standing before? Voldemort... the Dark Lord? Or just another pureblood who happened to carry the man's middle name. Marvolo was a connotation of the name Mark, which was in itself a common name.

And Harry knew well enough that some Pureblood families named their children in a certain way. The Blacks with constellations, the Malfoys with old Roman names, he'd even remembered reading somewhere that the Gaunt family only gave their male sons names beginning in M. Where Harry had read that he had not a clue... Marvolo, Macarius, Madoc, Madron, Marcus, Maron, Melvyn, Morfin. All old and uncommon names that Harry was astonished he'd remembered, shock must have made his mind clear.

All the thoughts in his mind appeared to be going at such a slow pace, yet he was recalling all the information at an astonishing speed. The last few seconds had involved a whirlwind wind of information, feelings, emotions, and intuition that the young Griffindor was only snapped out of by Marvolo's voice speaking to him once again.

"How did you come across my locket?" The words sliced through his psyche, and brought the child back to reality.

Words unbidden and without permission from his brain flowed from his mouth,

"It was in one of the rooms of the Black homes in England. Grimmauld Place," Harry elaborated.

The locket hummed softly, "Now, why would I be there, tell me boy what is the date?"

Harry felt that the first question hadn't really been directed at him, but rather a statement made to himself that Marvolo didn't expect him to to the second question Harry replied calmly, "It's July 11, 1993." pausing when Marvolo sucked in a startled breath before it was quickly stifled.

"When were you last opened?" Harry asked, quickly doing the maths in his head to the last possible date, figuring in how long Regulus had been dead

for.

"Fourteen almost fifteen years," Marvolo informed him dully.

Harry himself stayed quiet, trying not to imagine what that must have been like. To be alone... truly alone in the world with nothing but old texts and tomes for company for a decade and a half. For Merlin's sake the man didn't look any older than his mid-twenties, Harry wondered how anyone could have survived that without going insane. Then again Sirius had gone through something infinitely worse for nearly an identical amount of time.

Harry stared at him vividly, trying to discern any ill will towards himself. He found nothing, it appeared that Marvolo truly did not know him. But then the man spoke again.

"A Potter, how is it that a Potter was able to open my locket?" his blue eyes gazed at him shrewdly.

Harry himself returned the same look cautiously, he'd seen in his second year how the knowledge he was a Parseltongue had turned the entire school against him. The young boy wouldn't again be parting with such information so carelessly again, however... the magic he'd clearly felt coming off the locket wasn't what anyone would call Light by any stretch of the imagination.

The young Gryffindor was able to tell with absolute certainty that it was irrevocably and exquisitely Dark. That's what worried him, the fact that the Dark didn't feel repulsive or vile.

Besides the locket contained nothing but a portrait, it wasn't as if the man were able to walk around telling anyone. Parseltongue was supposedly a dark trait as well,what reason would Marvolo have to object.

"I opened it... _like this_." Harry said, the last two words clearly in Slytherin's very own snake tongue language.

And was further rewarded to his delight of watching the man's emotionless countenance disappear in favor to that of unrestrained shock.

"_You speak!"_ the older man returned in the same tongue, only to be witness to Harry's own shock and growing horror.

"_How.._?" the boy only managed to choke out as the coldness began to sweep over him again.

"_All those of the Gaunt line have been alluded to this ability retreating back too far before my own knowledge_." Marvolo returned, familial pride seeped into his voice,although Harry seemed to detect an odd note of repugnance in the other Parseltongue's voice.

"_Are you one of my descendents_?" the question came in rapid fire after giving Harry an explanation.

He frowned slightly in thought, "_I don't believe so, I don't know of any Gaunts who have appeared recently, but depending on when you were born it could be possible."_ Ron had mentioned before that practically all the purebloods were related somehow.

"_1926_." The answer was said indiscriminatory but the reaction was anything but.

_"1926! Circe! that was over fifty years ago!"_

Marvolo looked indignant, "_Believe me child, that's nothing for a wizard we live for centuries providing we don't do anything stupid and get ourselves killed."_Harry ignored him reverting back into English, "If you're still alive today you'd be sixty-seven years old!" Then stopped. A very interesting thought had occured to him... born 1926 went to Hogwarts around 1937 until around 1944. What if...

"Did you go to Hogwarts when you were my age?" the question seemed innocent enough, but still Marvolo watched him with attentive blue eyes.

"Yes I did, I was placed in Slytherin House."

"Did you ever meet Voldemort?" that question was definately less innocent, but Harry had been unable to help himself. After all he was speaking to a portrait that had may well have gone to school with The Dark Lord.

Marvolo raised a single eyebrow, "Yes, I did meet the Dark Lord. Why do you ever ask?"

The Gryffindor shrugged uncomfortably, "I knew he went to school right around the same time as you did..." what was he supposed to say to the man, I wanted to know what he was like as a student seemed positively laughable.

"He was extremely intelligent, a protege in his own right. On good terms with all the teachers, especially his Head of House." Harry was surprised that Marvolo had offered the information. It encouraged him to continue in his interrogation.

"Did you ever talk in Parseltongue to him?"

Marvolo smiled thinly at Harry, "During that time Hadrian the world was quite different from what you are used to as a Hogwarts student. It was a time of great uncertainty, Grindelwald was at the very height of his reign and Dark Wizards and foreigners were seen everywhere. And everywhere they were seen, they were perceived as a threat to the safety of the Wizarding World."

That was a no then.

"Why did you call me Hadrian, I said my name was Harry?"

Marvolo frowned, "I simply assumed that Harry was a diminutive form of Hadrian. Harry is quite plebeian, very _common_ a name."

That was practically insulting, especially seeing as his name Harry James Potter was the last remnants he had left of his parents."It was my parents and grandparents name," he said finally.

"Was?" Marvolo questioned softly.

"Yes, they... died when I was a baby." it was said inflectionlessly, Harry loved his parents, but he had never known them.

"I apologize." it was said stiffly, as if those words didn't come out of the man's mouth very often.

Harry's lips twitched, but he didn't comment.

And once again it was Marvolo asking the questions, "Will you tell me more about... recent events in the Wizarding World. It appears I have been out of touch for quite some time." a slight smirk curled around the wizards mouth.

Harry couldn't help return a small smile of his own. He told Marvolo... told him quite alot actually. About Hogwarts, about the Wizarding World, the Muggle world, who the Minister was, what had happened to the Dark Lord, about Dumbledore. But he also told Marvolo about his life as well, his recent adoption by Sirius, and some recent revelations he'd had about his life at Hogwarts.

And Harry was suprised to see that the man didn't object, didn't attempt to convince him otherwise about anything, but instead let Harry draw his own conclusions to the matters without making efforts to change his views. This was, Harry half suspected, that Marvolo fully agreed with him.

It was only after Harry mentioned Sirius's adoption at larger length that Marvolo butted in again.

"He's going to blood adopt you then." it was at this point Harry paused, halting in his stories to turn questioning eyes toward the man.

"Blood adoption..." he said, a question in his voice.

Marvolo looked surprised he didn't know the reference, before understanding quickly pooled in his eyes. Harry had told him he'd lived with muggles before discovering the magical world at eleven when receiving his Hogwarts letter.

"Blood adoption is a Ritual that is used particularly when one desires an heir, blood adoption is quite literal. It occurs when the guardian quite literally becomes the parent joined and related by blood to the child. It only requires there to be one guardian, however two are generally encouraged to perform the ritual. There are some requirement of course, such as the person undergoing the adoption must be related by blood to at least one of the guardians. It's not a very common Ritual used, at least not in my time, because its considered Dark because of the Blood Magic it requires to work, and thus its just barely legal. Not encouraged, but legal."

Harry said nothing, not even looking at Marvolo for a moment, but when the green eyed teen began to speak it was in a fierce whisper.

"You're telling me that... that Sirius wishes for me to become his... his son. His true biological son, related by blood, his heir."

Marvolo had an amused look in his deep blue eyes as a small smirk curled around the Gaunt's lips, "Why yes, yes I would say that it is very possible that I may be looking at the Heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black."

AN- It is with much love in my heart that I must conclude this chapter. Once again I would like to thank everyone for their support as I endevour to continue in my pursuit of perfection. BTW you would not believe how many times I had to backspace Tom and rewrite in Marvolo :) :) Darn it!

Oh I almost forgot... some of you have been asking if Lupin is going to be in the story. And I am now able to say (because I wasn't totally sure earlier) that yes he is gonna be in the story, his role isn't gonna be huge, like Harry and Voldemort's will be but I want him in it. I feel he has a lot of explaining to do. I'm not sure if I"m the only one who feels this way but.. I feel like Lupin really sort of abandoned Harry for the past twelve years. I mean he was BEST friends with his parents, and practically and uncle to the kid... and then he just bails... jumps ship never to be seen or heard from again. I mean the man didn't even tell Harry he was friends with his parents until it was practically forced out of him. So (huffs) sorry for the mini rant, I think he's got some explaining to do. But I don't want to end this on a sour note. So I'd like to as you a question: SHOULD HARRY BE DARK? I'm undecided but I'd really like an answer in some of your reviews. Right now I'm leaning more toward yes but I"d really love your input :) I've always felt that Dumbles was more of a negative effect on Harry's life than a positive one.

If you've made it to the end of this review then thank you have a wonderful night, err actually it's morning where I am. Guess I stayed up way way way past my bedtime (its 2:38 a.m.) oh well I'll sleep in tommorow or today.

Much Love to all of my lovely Lord's and Ladies of the Realm

* Kasamira.


	5. Chapter 5: Adoption Offers and Threats

Disclaimer: Not mine... no its not mine at all. As BIll Moyers once said "Freedom begins the moment you realize someone else has been writing your story and it's time you took the pen from his hand and started writing it yourself." I thought that was very appropriate here on fanfiction

To my Beta: Thank you so much for proofreading and helping me correct all the errors in this chapter. Much thanks and love if you happen to be reading this.

To all my lovely reviewers: Much thanks is deserved among you, and I'd love to thank you for all the comments regarding Harry's decision about going Dark/Light. I think you'll find the decision surprising unless you read the other reviews. In which case you've spoiled your own surprise :) The results of the poll are at the end of the story.

Harry had been unable to stop thinking about his conversation with Marvolo. Questions without answers twittered about in his brain about several things; his relationship with Sirius. Did he want to be his son? Could Sirius really be thinking about adopting him? He barely knew the man, and for most of the last year of his life thought that the last Black had been out to kill him.

But now... perhaps it was naive and stupid of him to assumed... but Harry wanted a family. He wanted... well, what he wanted Sirius probably couldn't give. Harry wanted a parent, that stupid idealized version of a parent that probably didn't exist outside of the telly. The green eyed teen wanted a mother, a father, an uncle, a godfather. Everything possible to keep him grounded in this unstable world. Sirius was just one person, and that would be far too much to ask from a single man, whether that man was a muggle a wizard or magical creature of any kind.

Besides! Marvolo was just assuming, probably drawing conclusions that weren't even there in the first place. Why would Sirius want him to be his heir, Harry knew that the wizarding world had very different connotations that came with being an Heir.

To Harry it was family and a relationship.

To the Wizarding world it was a symbol of status, and a new generation that would carry the family name. Whether that name would be Black or Potter.

He wanted both, Harry realized. He wanted to be Sirius's son but wanted to keep his biological parents as well. They were still a part of him because of their role in his life. The two of them had protected Harry to the death, at the expense of their own lives, and they had done it happily. Of their own free and gracous will to protect him... their only son. That always set off a warm spark inside his chest, not at their deaths-never that, but at the fact he'd had someone who cared enough about him to die for him.

Sirius interupted his musings.

"Hey, Pup! Did you find anything interesting yesterday?"

Harry laughed at the query, "Oh yes, definately. I found that your mother's room is infested with enough Doxies to populate the Forbidden Forest for a decade."

Sirius laughed in reply, "Yes, I"m not suprised. Doxies are attracted to Darkness like flies to the flame. And Mordred knows that Mother certainly had enough of that."

"I also found this in your Father's room," Harry continued handing over the picture of the two siblings.

For a long time Sirius didn't say anything. Then Animagus took the photo from Harry's hand, gazed at it for a long time and slipped it into the folds of his robes with a quiet thanks.

Then Sirius's old roguish grin came back onto his face, "What do you say about getting out of this place, I've been waiting to introduce you to Black Manor."

"Black Manor?" Harry said questionably, "where's that?"

"Moscow," the grin was back in full force at the shocked look on Harry's face. "Yes, Russia, it the ancestral home for the Black family. The Black's came to England during the first Wizarding World War, during the Russian Revolution."

"Are we Apparating there?" there was a small note of dread in the green eyed boy's voice at the thought of doing that again.

His godfather evidently heard it as well, but thankfully shook his head negatively, "No it's not permitted by the Ministry to Apparate between countries unless you have a IAL (International Apparating License) we'll be Flooing."

The Floo ride was bumpy as usual, but at least this time he came out on the right grate and managed to avoid dry heaving. Perhaps he was getting used to the awful whirling and spinning sensation that came with fireplace travel.

However when the spinning finally came to a stop Harry was startled to find that he'd not come out of a fire place. But instead there was not a fireplace in sight, and the young teen appeared to be standing outside of a gate in the middle of a sea of tall grass. Miles upon miles of the stuff, with not another person or landmark in sight. Sirius stood in front of Harry with his back to him, and appeared to be looking at something.

Harry peered around the other man but didn't see anything, just the gate that he'd been spilled out of and more tall grass that came up to his knees.

"Sirius... what are you looking at? How did we get here." there was still no fireplace in sight.

His godfather finally turned around to look at him, "Harry... we came through the fire." speaking to him like it should have been obvious.

"But..." Harry's voice trailed off... there were no fireplaces. Two pinpricks caught his eye, on either side of the gate were torches that appeared to be on their very last embers. There was no way the two of them could have come through those, they were... well... they were torches. And down to their last flame at that, Sirius had said no one had lived here since the Russian Revolution in the early twentieth century. The green eyed teen found it unnerving that a single enchantment was able to last throughout over sixty years.

As for what Sirius was looking at, abruptly the man appeared to come to a conclusion in whatever he had been thinking. Plunged a hand into his dark blue robes and pulled out a small piece of parchment. On it read:

42 7 6 10 4 Black Manor Moscow Russia

It was the strangest address Harry had ever seen in his life, the first numbers appeared to have no meaning what so ever when paired together with Black Manor. It was like a series of numbers chosen at random that contained no meaning.

After a moment the paper was plucked from his fingers and set alit at a touch of Sirius's wand, the ashes fluttered down into the tall grass in the wind, and Sirius spoke again, "Remember that."

Confusion, crossed Harry's eyes as he looked up. Why would he need to remember 42 7 6 10 4 Black Manor Moscow Russia? What was the purpose?

He had his answer. Past the rustic gate, with its twin torches stood a building that was larger than life. With magnificent mixture of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture, there were majestic flying buttresses anchoring the manor to the ground as if without it the fortress might take flight. Beautiful high ceilings, with both arched and rounded windows scattered interchangeably throughout its outer windows. The manor loomed out of the sky like it was piercing the very air breathed by the two wizards, it was dark. Exquisitely so, and not just in color, although the manor's pallet was a rich midnight black, so dark it was almost blue. It was a fortress, that was obvious even to Harry who had never studied the Dark Ages' defense strategy. Built on high ground, Harry noted, as about a hundred feet south of the gate there was a sheer drop going down to a fjord.

In addition to that there were wards, wards that made him think of Hogwarts with their power. But the enchantments on Black Manor were much different, Harry mused as they walked towards the entrance, and as the manor became larger, hulking over him. Hogwarts' wards felt safe and protective, as if they were constantly sheltering her students from potential harm. These wards were sheathed knives.

The door leading inside the manor was a yew door with a silver knocker that took the form of a coiled serpent. As the two of them approached the entrance Harry was able to decipher a faint smattering of whispering, and murmuring voices, but they weren't coming from the door. But rather from Black Manor's wards, they were whispering to him, the soft voices ruffling the back of his hair and sweeping around his ears like wraiths. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, as if waiting for an attack that Harry knew wouldn't come. Not an altogether comforting sensation.

Once inside the manor Harry was confronted with a beautiful marble ivory winding staircase that went up four floors. But most of all... it was light, and clean. There was no dark odor lingering about the home, there was no magical scent at all that Harry could detect.

No residue left over from the people who had inhabited the building because no one had stepped foot inside for the last seventy some years.

There must be house elves, Harry realized, for the manor to be so clean and fresh and light there must be house elves.

Sirius let Harry settle in.

Giving him rooms on the fourth floor, in what the teen learned later, was traditionally the Heir's rooms and were located in the same wing as the Master bedroom. In which Sirius had relocated himself to.

That night after dinner the two of them were sitting quietly in the parlor. Sirius had said there was something he wanted to discuss, but so far hadn't said a word. Instead the man had conjured two glasses of tea, and had stared into the fire that was crackling in the hearth for a long time.

"Harry, it has come to my attention that Dumbledore is attempting to fight your staying here." Sirius still wasn't looking at him.

"What? But... Sirius how can he do that? Dumbledore isn't my guardian, how is he able to fight it. You're my Godfather wouldn't you have custody of me?"

Sirius laughed hollowly, vanishing his tea suddenly. "Dumbledore is currently your magical guardian Harry, after your parents died and I went to Azkaban that right was transferred over to him."

Harry was bewildered, "But why... I don't understand? Why would that happen, Dumbledore's a school teacher, how would he have any connection- any authority in who becomes my guardian?"

"That's exactly what I want to know Harry, you're exactly right. Dumbledore didn't have any authority. In fact no wizard on earth had the authority to name you in another's sole custody, it's the Goblins who handle the Wills. After your parents died their Will should have been read, and its contents should have been carried out." Sirius looked unusually grim.

"Your parents liked Dumbledore, but they didn't leave you to him in their will. In fact Dumbledore was never even mentioned in their Will." His godfather held up, what Harry assumed to be the document, in his hand. And read from it,

"In the event that Sirius Black our son's named godfather is unable to become his magical guardian we list the following people as substitutes:

Remus Lupin

Frank and Alice Longbottom

Peter Pettigrew

Severus Snape

Andromeda Tonks nee Black

Narcissa Malfoy nee Black

And never under any circumstances should our son, Harry James Potter, be entrusted into the care of Petunia Dursley nee Evans." here Sirius paused, before being once again able to retain his reading.

"Your parents trusted Snape... SNAPE and the Malfoy's more than Lily's own sister. And where did Dumbledore put you?"

"WITH HER BLOODY SISTER!" rage shown brilliantly in Sirius's dark blue eyes, his hands clenched the parchment in his hands so tightly Harry was afraid he'd crumble it and throw the document in the fire out of righteous anger.

But Harry found himself unable to respond, because honestly what could he say, that Sirius was wrong. He wasn't. That was exactly what had happened. And this time the green eyed teen knew he couldn't expect answers from him, which wasn't something that Harry blamed the other man for.

Instead he had a single question, "Is Dumbledore going to contest this in court?" that was what concerned him, in the Muggle world if Dumbledore took this to court he'd be thrown out in a heartbeat. The Gryffindor could see it in his mind's eye now, Dumbledore could very well have been brought up on charges of kidnapping, and if that was found to be baseless, then child abandonment, an accomplice in child endangerment, neglect, and abuse. The Headmaster had left him on a porch in the middle of the night with a letter explaining everything... a letter. Then he'd disappeared never to be seen or heard from again by Harry until ten years later. And during the next three years at his school Harry had nearly been killed countless times, and put in the Hospital Wing on even more occasions. That didn't exactly speak of the safest school on the planet.

In the Muggle world Dumbledore was nothing, a school teacher. In the Wizarding World Harry wasn't foolish enough to believe that it would be so easy.

"Harry... in the Wizarding Court of Law- you have to understand, that... as a minor and child under the law you have virtually no rights at all. Until you reach the age of seventeen your safety, wellbeing, and home life is all regulated by your Magical Guardian... Dumbledore," here Sirius paused for a moment to let that sink in... his eyes apologetic.

"Whether your age is sixteen or six months children are viewed in the same manner by the Ministry, when Dumbledore takes this to court your testimony, your testimony as a child, would hold no weight at all. I would be surprised if they even allowed you to speak at all. And being unable to assert your own story of what... dismal and vile people your relatives are" here his godfather's lip curled as though he didn't relish speaking of Harry's relatives as being people.

"I myself would be able to carry some weight, however in court all my knowledge on the matter is hearsay. There are other means of course, however it is unlikely that the courts would enforce those means since they are... invasive by nature."

Harry looked Sirius in the eyes, "How do you mean invasive?"

"You would permit the court to view your memories?"

Harry swallowed, the green eyed teen didn't even have to ask what memories Sirius was talking about.

"There are also Truth Serums such as Veritaserum, which may be the lesser of the two evils presented."

Yeah, that would be a lot better in Harry's book than having to spill his memories before an entire panel of wizards. The very thought was sickening, the very idea of those people... watching... what the Dursley's... Veritaserum, definitely the better option.

"I would be willing to do that, Sirius. If it means not having to go back to those people ever again, and being able to stay here then I'd take the Veritaserum in a heartbeat." His voice was steady, confident, hiding the true nature of his tumbling emotions on the subject.

Harry knew it was irrational, that nothing about the matter was his fault. But he still couldn't help but feel... embarrassment and a mixture of shame about the thought of what the whole Wizarding World would know.

"Is it going to be in the papers? The custody hearing I mean." Surely the dog Animagus would be able to hear the hopeful tinge in his voice that begged a negative reply.

Sadly he was disappointed, able to tell by the mixture of guilt and sadness in Sirius's eyes that yes it would be all over the Prophet's front page.

So the next words that came out of Sirius's mouth were ones that caused more than a bit of shock to reach his system.

"Harry, how would you feel about... me adopting you?" the words came softly, almost as if Sirius were afraid of a harsh rebuttal in reply.

"I- Sirius...yes-yes of course!" Harry was at a loss for words, as an absurd amount of happiness flooded him, Marvolo had been right, the portrait hadn't been making wild guesses but in fact had been spot on. I mean Sirius had... well the man hadn't said it outright like this!

"Yes, I would love to be your son." he'd finally found his voice, the words had all come out in a breathless rush.

His godfather-no his... his Father looked down at him, expression disbelieving at first. Before changing into one of joy, the largest grin Harry had seen on his face (since agreeing to live with him) came upon his face. Joy. Harry smiled, after his decidedly positive response the older man's magic had heightened and hummed around him like a humming bird's wings. It drew around the teen an excited amount of whispers, like his very own magic was rejoicing at the response as well.

Before it seemed that reality caught up with the elder, his face turning pensive again.

"Now... Harry in the Wizarding World there are more options for adoption than in the Muggle world. In the Muggle world for all intents and purposes you would become my son, both on paper, in public and in private. However there is also another form of adoption called Blood Adoption and it uses a Blood Ritual, which employs a Blood Sacrifice. It's dark magic, but not considered illegal by the ministry. With Blood Adoption we would truly be related, by blood, and no one in the wizarding or muggle worlds could ever claim that you truly weren't my son and heir. As part of tradition your appearance would be affected by the addition of my genes and your name would also change. But-Harry I don't want you to feel pressured into Blood Adoption."

Sirius looked concerned, his blue eyes were gazing at him earnestly.

"I want you to know that it doesn't matter to me. This should be your choice, and no matter what you choose absolutely nothing will change in our relationship. You will ALWAYS be my child." Harry had never seen Sirius look so sincere before, indeed the emotions coming off the other were overwhelming. Emotions of love, trust, honesty, and simple kindness that blew the green eyed teen away.

More than that though, Sirius was giving him the choice, it was his choice whether he wanted this. Sirius was giving him the power to decide, and that was what made Harry's decision so easy, so simple it didn't require any consideration at all. He wanted to be Sirius's son. His true son. Not because of what anyone else would think about it, whether that was Fudge, Dumbledore, or his friends but because Harry wanted this. Wanted to have that connection with the other nothing else would ever give him.

He wanted a Father.

AN- Hello once again all of my Lord's and Ladies, it is with much regret that I must bestow upon you my apologies for the wait. I wouldn't bother you with excuses or requests for pardon if I didn't extend to you a reasonable explanation for my longer than usual absence in chapter writing. I was attending to several different prosthetic/paralytic events for the past few days. And while there I met (if you don't mind me telling you :) the kindest little kid whose name I can't remem- wait never mind it was Aidan. Yes, he was quite shy but Caitlynn and myself managed to convince him to play some catch, unfortunately we couldn't convince him to do any of the exercises we learned but at the very least it was nice to see someone come out of their shell. I had a marvelous time and had quite a lot of fun, the only downside was that there was no one at my own age level there. It was mostly young children and older adults, not like 30-40 I mean 60-80 so I'm not trying to be mean! :) :) But it was quaint and fun and we all learned something!

I shall endeavor to update with another chapter within the next few days, but I would love to thank you all dearly for your reviews and correspondence with me. I know I have thoroughly enjoyed it and hope to continue. If you do manage to make it this far into my ramblings please answer this question if/when you review this chappie:) Should Harry be in the Triwizard Tournament? Or should Harry extinguish the flame of his arch nemesis and eternal :) rival Draco Malfoy in the favor of family unity (because the Malfoy's and Black's are related)?

PS. Harry's going... Gray :) Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions and I have to say that Gray won out by a land slide. It was quite a surprise to! I didn't even think about gray... maybe I should be disappointed that I didn't think of it... kind of narrow minded huh. But I think I'm going to love treading that line, taking Harry over it and then bringing him back, and deciding what is tooo Dark for him. After all as Ridley Scott said, Life isn't black and white. It's a million gray areas, don't you find?

Much love, and much thanks to all my lovely Lord's and Ladies of the Manor.

Your friend in time,

*Kasamira


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: The works of J.K. Rowling do not belong to me and neither do her characters.

Thank you all for reading and reviewing I'd love to hear any questions you have regarding the story thus far. So without further ado I present to you, my Lords and Ladies chapter 6 in Harry's new life.

Chapter 6:

The Ministry was unlike anything Harry had ever seen before in his life. It was teeming with a multitude of not only wizards and witches but a large quantity of magical beings Harry had never had the slightest inclination existed before reading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Everywhere he looked the magic was different. The feel of it alternated quickly as crowds of people passed by him and Sirius. It brought back to him the same swirling feeling of the Floo, but instead of passing by grates they passed by a decadent number signatures. Because signatures was simply the only way to describe it. Every person was different, like in a signature some looped their letters down or made wavy y's but essentially they all shared a common bond, ink and a name with some of the letters of the alphabet. With magic it was just the same; some of it felt more docile like the three Niffler's and their owner that had just walked by, and others felt more contained. Like the person had buried his signature deep inside of himself and was unable to reach it, he would learn that these were Squibs.

The people who stood out the most were the one's that weren't quite... well... human. It was made plainly obvious to the green eyed teen who those people were, the feel of their signature washed over him differently. Sometimes the feeling which resulted was a delightful calmness knowing the person had no harmful intent, but other times such brief encounters left Harry's heart pounding and a dampness on the back of his palms. Those beings magic spoke of restraint, particularly none of it, and the feel of the wild magic casting about the soon to be 4th year made him nervous.

In other ways the Ministry was exactly what Harry had expected because it was utterly... magical (as cliche as that sounded to Harry's own ears). But the teen was simply unable to deny; the way the wards cracked against his skin, the gleaming golden Arithmancy symbols which were inlaid on the ceiling and constantly changing, frequent whooshing noises coming from fireplaces all around as witches and wizards arrived and departed, sudden cracks of Apparition, and a magnificent golden foundation featuring a witch, wizard, centaur, goblin, and house elf.

Courtroom 11 paled in comparison. Gone was the peacock blue ceiling and inlaid golden symbols replacing it was a dungeon. Dim torches lit the room and cast a flickering multitude of shadows across dark stones walls. There were rows of empty benches on either side of the room, and directly across from the door were three high benches which were littered with cloaked figures. There were about fifty people, a mixture of witches and wizards all looking at him with calm austere expression.

All of them were dressed in robes of deep plum with an embroidered silver W on the lapels. In the Wizemgamot's center was Minister Fudge who always seemed to be wearing the same green bowler hat, Fudge's expression, unlike his colleagues, was condescending. Like he was a child used to getting his own way and now throwing when he'd been denied something. The green eyed teen's opinion of the Minister for Magic dropped several notches, not that it had been high in the first place.

In front of the Wizengamot's benches was a single sturdy wooden table on the left side of the courtroom The table had two chairs and a pitcher of water under a Cooling Charm.

Dumbledore was seated to the right of Sirius and himself in squashy electric blue chintz armchair with electric blue robes to match. The Headmaster's face was solemn, saddened almost, although the twinkle in his eyes was still plainly apparent beneath half moon spectacles.

"We are calling to order the case of Sirius Orion Black Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black and Head of the Noble House of Potter, Godfather of Harry James Potter Primary Heir to the Noble House of Potter and Ancient and Most Noble House of Black to contest Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore Order of Merlin, First Class for Grand Sorcery, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Head Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy, and Head of the Noble House of Dumbledore in regards to the Magical Guardianship of one Harry James Potter as previously mentioned." the man talking stopped for a moment, and Harry wondered vaguely if his lungs had given out from the exorbitant use of titles, because by the time the orator had finished speaking Harry had almost forgotten why he was there.

"The Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, Sirius Black, as previously stated contests The Head of the Noble House of Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore, as previously stated under the grounds of abandonment, neglect, and abuse of his ward and charge one Harry Potter. Lord Black also contests the placement of his Godson Harry Potter under the Magical Guardian ship of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore." the orator gasped in another breath, and Harry wondered cynically if anyone in his position had ever died from oxygen deprivation.

Maybe nerves were starting to affect him more than he'd thought. He'd certainly been terrified the previous evening... but not just because of the Ministry Hearing.

Sirius had expected Dumbledore to contest the adoption, but neither of them expected it to come so fast. The very night Sirius had written a letter to the Ministry petitioning for Harry's adoption and change in guardianship they'd gotten an owl at Black Manor during dinner.

Sirius had been in the middle of telling Harry about a prank he and Prongs had pulled on the Professors in their first year including color changing feathers and a sticking charm which had resulted in a solid month of detention from Professor McGonagall or Minnie as his Godfather liked to call her.

The owl had been an official looking screech owl carrying a letter in its beak... a letter stating that Dumbledore was not going to go quietly and had contested their request for the guardianship change. The hearing had been scheduled on July 31, later Harry had reflected spending his birthday in a courtroom might be the best birthday present of his life depending on the ruling. Or it could end up being the worst.

Marvolo had had quite a bit to say about the matter later in the night after Sirius had gone to bed, he'd even offered to coach him on how to give his statement to the Wizengamot.

"I just don't understand why a full Wizengamot hearing has been called together, doesn't that only happen for murder trials? Sirius said the last time a full Wizengamot hearing was called was in 1981 when Barty Crouch Jr. had his sham of a trial."

Marvolo served him with a disbelieving look, "Harry your godfather is Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, which is very well known to be a dark wizarding family, and he is contesting the guardianship of Dumbledore. Dumbledore being the man who defeated Grindelwald, and is Headmaster of Hogwarts, that's not even mentioning the man is being brought forth on charges of child abuse."

Harry sighed softly, "Yes, you're right, and then of course there's the fact I'm Harry bloody Potter." his voice was self deprecating.

The portrait gave him a strange look, "Perhaps the times have changed since I've been in here Harry, but in my time the Potter House was respected but not as well known as the Black's or Malfoy's."

The green eyed teen experienced a moment of long awaited shock, over the past few days he'd enjoyed Marvolo's lack of knowledge on his... celebrity status. It was enjoyable having someone who didn't know anything about his life other than what Harry had explicitly told him. Harry had told Marvolo about his life, but left out a majority of the details. His parents were dead, he used to live with abusive relative (no details there), his godfather was trying to adopt him, Dumbledore was causing problems.

Nothing about Voldemort, nothing about Voldemort's attacks on him as an infant and in the last two years, he didn't want to be known as the Boy Who Lived to Marvolo, but he didn't want to lie to the portrait either.

"Marvolo... there are some things I haven't told you about how my parents died." he paused it occurred to Harry that he'd never been the one to tell anyone of his history, it had always been the other way around.

"A few decades ago, after the fall of Grindelwald, a new dark wizard started to appear, he operated under the name of Voldemort. Through the fifties he started gathering followers among the dark pureblood wizarding families, he advocated against the wizarding world integrating with muggles and muggleborns. He... ah strongly encouraged blood purity, then sometime during the seventies he took the title Dark Lord, gathered his forces and began making attacks. They started out quietly, people just disappeared from one day to the next. Then there were attacks on the Ministry, raids in magical villages, and assaults against the Aurors."

"My father, James Potter, was an Auror who worked at the Ministry and he was also a member, with my mother, of the Order of the Phoenix. The Order was an organization that Dumbledore made outside of the Ministry to try and combat against the Dark Lord. For a long time people lived in fear, fear that they'd be the next to disappear or it would be their home that would be attacked." Once Harry had started talking the words just poured from his mouth in a rush. They were all facts he'd learned from Hagrid, Ron, Hermione, Sirius and a few books from the Hogwarts library. After discovering how his parents had died the green eyed teen had wanted to know more about the war that had caused their deaths.

Marvolo was observing him with rapt attention, Harry knew he probably had already known up to this point about Voldemort, but didn't know about Harry's family because he'd been put in the locket about a year before the incident.

"My parents were very public in their stand against Voldemort, Sirius tells me stories of battles the Order had against Voldemort's Death Eaters." here Harry's voice dropped lower, softer.

"I still don't know why he did it. But... on Halloween... Voldemort came to Godric's Hollow where my parents lived with me... someone betrayed them. Sold them out, told Voldemort where we were hiding. Their Secret Keeper- Peter Pettigrew," barely contained rage lit the teen's emerald eyes.

"Voldemort brought down the Fidelius Charm, put up Anti Apparation and Porkey wards. I guess he had someone in with Magical Transportation that blocked the Floo Network. He killed my father, James, first," Harry's intonation had gone flat, all the emotion drained from his voice.

"Then went upstairs, to my nursery where my mother had blockaded the door. Told her to step aside, that she didn't have to die but she refused to let him kill me." a humorless laugh escaped him, "she used herself as a human shield against him and Voldemort killed her because she was in the way. Then he turned his wand toward me, and he couldn't do it."

A sharp intake of breath came from Marvolo, and Harry looked down to see the small portraits hands were closed so tightly around the corners of a book that his knuckles were white.

"Oh he said the words alright, of the Killing Curse, it just didn't go the way the Dark Lord expected, the curse rebounded. It didn't kill me like it was supposed to, but left me this curse scar." he lifted his bangs out of the way, exposing the lightning bolt scar to Marvolo's wandering eyes.

"And he died, the Dark Lord Voldemort that is at least that's what the whole Wizarding World believes. But for now he's disappeared at the very least for the last... few years." Harry trailed off, Voldemort was far from dead.

"Disappeared... you said dead earlier Harry, do you truly believe he's gone?" Marvolo's voice surprised the 4th year out of his musings.

"No," the words came instantly out of his mouth without even thinking about it, "I know he's not dead, Voldemort's out there somewhere, I told you before a little bit about Hogwarts. The Dark Lord hasn't been making my life there easy."

"You want him dead then?"

Harry looked up in surprise, pausing for a moment. No one had ever asked him that before, it had always just been assumed. Although Harry knew very well why it would be assumed, after all the man had murdered his parents, tried to kill him three times.

"I want him to stop trying to kill me, I want him to leave me alone. But I realize that that isn't possible, even if he were to leave me alone I'd be expected to hate him, to want him dead with every part of my being." here Harry paused, what he wanted to say was getting caught in his throat, it was something he couldn't say to anyone else... for fear of their reaction. But Marvolo was a portrait.

"I don't hate him." he whispered, "I don't know why, well... I guess I kind of do. He thought the Potter's were a threat, a threat to him taking over. I guess I understand why he killed them, but..." the Gryffindor sighed, running his hands roughly through messy black hair, gripping the black strands in frustration.

"You don't understand why the Dark Lord must continue in his vendetta to kill you." Marvolo finished simply for him.

"Yeah, I just want to be left alone, to be a regular wizard, or at least as normal a wizard Harry Potter can be."

The blue eyed portrait looked steadily at him, "War is coming isn't it."

Harry swallowed thickly, "Yes, if Voldemort gets his body back. If he's more than... than a wraith or a spirit or a memory, then yeah it would happen all over again."

Those blue eyes were looking at him again like they were piercing straight through to his soul, "And what side would you take Harry, when it comes to that, would you side with Dumbledore the same man who placed you with those filthy Muggles and let them hurt you, let you grow up amidst those vile pieces of filth-"

Green eyes flashing Harry cut him off, "Or would I side with my parents murderers, the people who have been trying to kill me and my entire family since I was a year old. What kind of a choice is that?"

"Your godfather, soon to be Father, was sent to Azkaban without a trial, is that the kind of world you want to live in Harry? One where people are sent to that place without a basic hearing, no defense, no plea's, no Veritaserum, no Pensive, just Dementors. You spent the entire school year around those soul sucking creatures, they drain the feeling right out of a person. Your godfather was surrounded by hundreds of them, Harry, hundreds for twelve years of his life. Could you imagine that, after suffering such a tragedy of your parents dying being betrayed by one of his closest friends, being sent to Azkaban instantly?"

"What exactly would you have me do about it," Harry hissed. "I'm thirteen year old wizard, not bloody Merlin, how the bloody hell would I ever be able to do anything about the world. You know how the wizarding world views children, completely helpless, no rights except for the ones our guardians have over us."

"Yes, but you're not just a child are you Harry," Marvolo retorted coldly, "you're the Boy-Who-Lived, a famous figure in the wizarding world. You hold the power of the public, to them your their hero. The boy hero who saved them from the Dark Lord's reign of terror," a sneer twisted across his lips at those last three words.

"You have political power more than ever as the primary heir to the Black and Potter lines, you're practically the Light Side's chosen scion after Dumbledore, the innocent boy wizard that saved them from the things that go bump in the night."

"What are you saying," Harry whispered.

"I'm saying that you are in the best position you could have for the rest of your life, the perfectly innocent light child completely ready and able to take hold of the reigns. All set up for a position at the Ministry when you graduate. Or..." there Marvolo trailed off.

"Or what?"

"That depends on what you want Harry," the portrait said slyly, "with your position as a public figurehead in the wizarding world... there is no reason for you not to take advantage... if you so wished. If you would decide that... you wanted a different path from the one laid out before you by Dumbledore, with my help I could provide you with that. If the dark is where you choose to put your loyalties, then, be aware that you would also be in an ample place to do so." The portraits voice was soft, kind almost, but there was an edge underneath the gentleness that spoke of cunning and a certain dangerous edge that Harry didn't want to test.

"Do I have to choose a side? Does it have to be that way, does it have to be one or the other? Just as black and white as that, either Dumbledore and the Ministry or the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters?"

Now it was Fudge who was talking, the Minister appeared to be leading the hearing, and was speaking to Sirius about the proof he had regarding the charges he was bringing against Dumbledore. Now it was Harry's turn, he swallowed, the previous numbness went away from his limbs like he'd been doused in ice water. Only for a horrifying new sensation to take root, terror, it was churning in his stomach, taking root there and pushing up in between his lungs until he couldn't breath.

Sirius placed a steadying hand on his arm, gripping him tight, Harry's gaze traveled up to his face, there was none of the tension he himself was fighting on his godfather's aristocratic features. Calm coldness had taken over his face, but in his deep blue eyes there brewed a storm, a storm that was not proportionate with the Animagus's facial expression. Sirius didn't relish what was coming any more than Harry took strength in that, that he wouldn't be facing this alone.

"We would like to call forth the use of Veritaserum on the child, Harry James Potter, in question to ascertain the truth in the charges brought against Dumbledore." A shocked murmur ran through the Wizengamot, their austere expressions momentarily flickering when they realized that Sirius wasn't going down without giving as good as he got. They'd expected the man to go quietly and to fold to Dumbledore's wishes, they hadn't expected this.

Nevertheless the Veritaserum was brought forward without question or comment, a tall spindly man in soft black robes came forward with a small vial and eye dropper in his hands. With a jolt Harry realized that the man must be a potions master, for Professor Snape wore the same style and color of the robes in question, there was even an official 'PM' embroidered regally onto the shoulder of his robes.

The cork coming out of the bottle made a loud popping noise that seemed to rebound off the walls of the large bare chamber, hitting each dark stone individually while passing through the dim torches effortlessly. Three drops were placed on his tongue, and Harry vaguely heard the man say that using anymore on a child would cause undue side effects.

The oddest feeling came over the soon to be 4th year, a feeling Harry would have associated most closely (as closely as he could without trying them) with Muggle recreational drugs.

The green eyed teen felt positively high, he was floating on air, mind cleared of all relevant thoughts and worries. A lightness filled him that he'd never felt before, all worries, worries about the trial, insecurities about the future, about matters he'd talked with Marvolo about simply floated away on a delightful cloud. Drifting up... up... up above his head and out of the stone chamber.

Questions... vague questions pervaded his mind suddenly, ruffling his almost comatose state, but not enough to wake him.

What's your name... when were you born... where do you live?

The questions drifted through to his brain, his brain which felt like it was full of cotton balls and fluff. His name? Didn't they already know the answers to these questions? They had sent a letter to him requesting his presence here, they had to know all these things to send it.

Then the queries got harder, how do your relatives treat you... do you enjoy living with them... did your guardian every come visit you while living with them...they were questions that required a bit more thought than had previously been required. But he answered them without thought, without pause in a strange blank voice that was utterly unlike his own childish one that was undergoing puberty and had a habit of cracking embarrassingly at the most inopportune moments.

And finally other questions came... some that Harry vaguely registered he didn't want to answer. Questions he didn't want to think about.

Eventually they stopped, after what seemed like hours of floating through the space above their heads. Harry's sense of sight was perfectly intact, but everything seemed to have gone blurry around the edges, eyes unfocused and unseeing as they gazed towards the full Wizengamot.

When that airy feeling finally stopped it was a shock to his system, leaving him gasping and coughing for breath, sputtering from the sensations and feelings that now coursed through him. Everything seemed painfully bright, the grain of the rough table under his right hand dug into his palm, and on the right Sirius was clenching his hand painfully hard. The robes he was clothed in felt heavy, almost suffocating against his skin. If this is what coming down off of any form of drug, then the fourth year Gryffindor knew he'd never try any of them willingly.

The members of the Wizengamot were staring at him. Not just staring, Fudge looked shocked, angry, and sick. Madam Bones who was the Aunt of one Susan Bones looked enraged, and she was staring at Dumbledore like a pit bull, ready to attack given the slightest inclination, Harry almost swore he saw her right hand twitch toward her wand. Several other members of the Wizengamot seemed to be in similar states. Before Madam Bones raised her voice above the dead silence in Courtroom 11,

"Well... I believe we have heard all of the pertinent details and information regarding the request for a change in the Magical Guardianship of Harry Potter, along with much" here the woman's eyes flashed like Professor McGonagall's, "if not all the pertinent evidence in regards to the allegations of child abuse at the hands of Albus Dumbledore. I believe we are able to make our vote concerning the guardianship." here the woman looked around at her fellow colleagues, as if daring them to deny her.

If Harry hadn't been so wired he would have smiled, Madam Bones was certainly a formidable witch. The other members nodded their heads in agreement silently, she had no opposition.

Fudge spoke, "All for Dumbledore, raise their right hand." and then a moment later, "All for Black, raise their right hand."

It was unanimous, one hundred percent, not a single hand had been left down. That churning feeling was back in Harry's stomach, and pushing through his lungs again, he thought one of them might be punctured already with the way he was inhaling sharply for breath. And the tight grip of Sirius's hand on his own was crushing, but he grabbed back just as tightly.

"In the matter of the Noble House of Dumbledore vs. the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black we ruled in favor of Black. Ergo Harry James Potter as Heir Apparent to the houses of Black and Potter is to become under the permanent Guardianship of Sirius Orion Black,"

AN- Wow! Very emotional chapter. I swear I was so excited to get all of this down, hope you guys don't mind that it's a bit longer than usual. But other than that I would like to thank you all once again, all of my lovely reviewers, people who have read my story, provided awesome advice about the Blood Adoption and how it should affect Harry, and most of all much thanks to my Beta for making sense of my scribbles. To my lovely Lords and Ladies I bid you farewell (for now) and wish you a good night.

Gute Nacht, Bonne Nuit, Buenas Noches, Buonanotte, Спокойной ночи, グッドナイト

* Kasamira


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Why would I want this?

AN- Good evening to all of my lovely Lords and Ladies! Please feel free to read to your hearts desire and, of course, to review as many times as you wish. I look fervently forward to your comments and questions so don't hesitate to ask away!

Furthermore I have a question for you: What do you think Harry's new name should be? I've got exactly what I want picked out for a first name but I'm not sure for a middle one, I want to go the traditional route, star names, for the Black family. Any ideas?

Harry's appearance is going to change! Green eyes are staying put though, I have to admit that I love Lily's eyes, however they're going to get a bit of a twist.

After coming back from Courtroom 11 the Ministry was full of reporters. A flurry of camera flashes blinded Harry and Sirius soon after exiting the lift leading into the Atrium. Immediately the two Gryffindors were stampeded by a mass of bodies, all of them talking at once, with Harry only catching snatches of questions.

"-future holds for your charge?"

"-adoption likely?"

"-magical orphanages, so this doesn't happen again?"

"-believe that Dumbledore is responsible?"

"-change of schools?"

"-ogwarts safe?"

Sirius led them calmly through the infested piranha water, their teeth had been bared and ready to strike. It would have been unwise to have a confrontation so soon after the trial, Harry realized, with emotions running high now was not a time to lose it in a piranha's den.

So instead of exploding at the reporters the two of them were guided over to the fire places by what appeared to be Ministry appointed body guards, guards that parted them through the tide of vultures who had caught the scent of blood.

Back at Black Manor Harry collapsed into a plush chair in the lounge, sinking into the soft fabric. The potions effects were still rapidly leaving him, but they still left a numbing trail behind in his body. That was something, Harry thought, he would never try again. The Gryffindor's entire body felt like lead, heavy, clumsy, and weighted down by his own mass.

"The outcome was better than I could have hoped for."

Sirius was in a similar position seated on a chair across from his new charge, the only difference was a tumbler of amber liquid clasped in his right hand.

"You didn't think we'd win?"

Sirius smiled wryly, "I still don't think we've won the war, just won a respite from battle. Even if Dumbledore's given up there may be other hearings we will have to attend."

Harry looked questionably up at him.

"You are related to other people in the wizarding world, I do happen to have a good claim legally because in addition to being you godfather I'm also your cousin."

"I'm your cousin!" Harry looked up at him wide eyed.

Sirius hmmed, "Yes, we shared the same great grandparents, Cygnus and Violetta Black in the late 1800's. They had your grandmother, Dorea, and my grandfather Pollux. Your grandmother married Charlus Potter, who had James and then you. My own grandfather Pollux married Irma Crabbe- yeah I know Crabbe- and Walburga, my lovely dearest mother, married her cousin Orion, and then had myself and Regulus."

Harry couldn't contain his grimace, incest was not something that caused a warm and fuzzy feeling to erupt in his stomach, more like bile erupting up his throat. But on the other hand, through his grandmother, Dorea Black, Harry himself was related to Sirius. They were cousins he realized, perhaps third cousins. But still, the young teen couldn't help his thoughts from straying back to the incest topic, the very thought made his stomach roil. But, he also knew that very often magical marriages weren't the choice of the candidates, but rather the parents or magical guardians. Draco, for example, was supposed to be married to the Parkinson girl, when they turned seventeen.

Harry looked up at Sirius carefully, "When you say other people I'm related to might have a claim or a legal foot hold your talking about the Malfoy's aren't you."

The older man nodded, "Narcissa is my first cousin, your third cousin, and as such is the most viable opponent to my guardianship other than Dumbledore. It would help her case that she's married Lucius Malfoy, who is a prominent feature in the Ministry, he holds a lot of power over the Minister and is a former member of the Hogwart's Board of Governors. It also helps that he's worth a few hundred million galleons, which is over one billion euros with quite a hefty amount of change in addition to that billion."

"How do you think he managed to stay out of Azkaban after the war." Sirius added, "I can guarantee it wasn't because of his charming personality and a lack of evidence."

Harry got the message quite clearly, the Ministry was corrupt. It was like a sieve being constantly filled with water, the more it was filled the more it poured out water. Sirius's less than subtle implication that Malfoy was paying off Ministry officials for his own advancement wasn't something he'd put past the man. The Malfoy patriarch had attempted to kill an eleven year old girl just the previous year! A few bribes wasn't much of a stretch that Harry's imagination was unable to overcome.

The summer with Sirius had evaporated as quickly as it had come. Unable to venture into the wizarding world, and when the two of them weren't in the Muggle one Harry had taken to taking up residence in one of the plush chairs in the Black Library with a thick tome laid out in front of him. Hundreds if not thousands of rows and shelves of books were laid out before the thirteen year old. So many Hermione would have salivated at the thought of them.

He'd gone on a reading binge. Finishing his summer homework within the week easily, Harry had turned to more interesting pursuits. Exploring through the depths of the Black Library had been facinating. Even more so was the depths of the books knowledge, every tome contained things he'd never even dreamed about much less thought of.

Not all of them were dark, the majority of them were of course filled with the sort of knowledge that could, as Snape put it, "bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses." From the shelves Harry caught glimpses of Most Potente Potions among their number, along with one that particularly intrigued Harry's interest.

It was on Blood Adoption. In the dusty old tome was detailed accounts of Blood Adoptions, the preparation that had led up to them, the actual events during them, and the events after them. It had been written over six hundred years ago, it Harry were to believe the date and title on the first page, and kept under a statis charm to prevent decay. Written by a man named Demus Hawk, and thankfully Harry was fully capable of interpreting the text thanks to the self updating charm which kept the books current on the most used language (just like in Hogwarts A History).

_One must always consider the potential consequences of attempt at a Sanguinem Adoptionis, while the benefits of such as adoption are great not only to the ward who is adopted but also more significantly to the host family. Sanguinem Adoptionis potential benefits are to be looked upon with a neutral view, as one is able to ascertain several different viewpoints from which the adoption may take place. One of these such view points as previously mentioned is the view of the ward. During the Sanguinem Adoptionis the ward will experience a significant amount distress, this distress is certain to take place because of the severe emotional, physical, and psychological changes which are to be taking place in a short period of time. These changes will most definitely include alterations in outward physical attributes and characteristics such as hair and eye color. However these outward physical alterations will not be contained to mere physical extremities such as hair. The second most pain caused by the ritual will be the adjustment in bone structure, for just as most humanoid species contain to a hundred thousandth the degree of identical physiological structure small minute changes are made amidst the ritual. These alterations will account for heritage mutations throughout the generations, and will also dissolve other parental claims made to the ward by his extended family._

_In addition to minute structural and physiological reconstruction, the most distressing change made to the ward will be the psychological adjustments. While the human brain has various capabilities as a standard quota most humans retain the identical limitations (save for some paltry few) however the application of these capabilities varies widely in the form of magical endowment. While it has been argued by Gwendolyn that psychologically the human brain has no effect in regards to one's magic, I will be harboring under the allusion that the mind does have arbitrary effects on the magical psyche. Throughout the ritual this magical psyche, as previously stated, may expand or decrease in size depending on the magical abilities of the bloodline of the host. The most common effect on the ward's power is an increase in magical ability, only in extremely rare cases has the host's bloodline been inferior to the ward's._

The book was... fascinating. And not nearly as dry as most of the others on the shelves. When Sirius sent a house elf to bring him to dinner it was only then that Harry realized he'd been at the book for nearly five hours, making it nearly a quarter of the way through the tome. The book had mentioned a large amount of pain for the ward, a small pool of nausea curled in the pit of Harry stomach at the thought of what the book was describing.

How he would be turned inside out. His magic laid bare for all to see, his body irrevocably changed to that of a Black and no longer a Potter, how his mind would be affected and how both his brain and magic would accept the changes to his being.

Walking steadily to the dining hall the green eyed teen resolved to question his Godfather thoroughly about it.

Harry would have expected his conversations with Marvolo to become awkward after his confession, or at least a bit uncomfortable. But it appeared the exact opposite had occurred, the portrait had become more open. More eager to talk about sensitive topics, things such as Voldemort, his public status as "dead', Death Eaters, Dumbledore, Hogwarts, Gryffindor, Slytherin, the Ministry, the Blood Adoption and a multitude of topics that Harry never would have talked to Ron and Hermione about.

Ron and Hermione were his best friends, good ones too, they'd followed him to hell and back, as proven by the past three years. But Harry still remembered their reactions to his Parseltongue ability, the shocked almost horrified expressions on their faces when telling him that being able to speak to snakes was the sign of a dark wizard. Something in itself Harry was unable to understand,

Being able to do something, how could that be wrong, it sounded like his relatives prejudice against magic. They believed it to be dark terrible and unnatural, just as wizards and witches viewed Parseltongue. Bias, was something that couldn't be changed easily. Especially in the wizarding world, despite the Muggles changing and moving forward all around them the wizarding world still clung to Dark Age ideals. Arranged marriages, torches, clothing, and the distinct lack of technology pervaded every inch of the wizarding world.

In some ways Harry was able to understand, most Muggle technology went haywire around magic, but there were Wizarding Wireless's which had been enchanted, along with Mr. Weasley's car. There was however one large stand out in Harry's mind that he couldn't accept. The incest, it was a deal breaker.

Once again the Gryffindor was reminded of the dark ages in the Muggle world, and especially of English, Russian, French, and Spanish royalty all being closely related to each other. And all of them marrying their cousins, uncles, nieces, and nephews. The result in the Muggle world was perinatal deaths and birth defects. Harry was vaguely reminded of Spanish Habsburgs, through some old piece of trivia, about how nine out of the eleven marriages throughout their two hundred year reign had been incestuous. Along with the fact that Charles II didn't speak until age four, and didn't walk until he was eight years old.

Sirius had said his parents had been first cousins, Sirius had also said that madness seemed to run in the Black family. Perhaps there was a correlation.

Harry had spoken of this to Marvolo who hadn't been surprised in the slightest at Harry's revelations, telling him that his own family, the Gaunts, had taken to a nasty habit of marrying nieces and cousins in every generation to keep the Gaunt line "pure" from any other bloodline. As a result there had been an increased number of Squibs, birth defects, still borns, and mental deficiencies in his family. Marvolo had told Harry of the Gaunt's fanatical endeavours and attempts to keep their lines "pure" and that through their inbred attempts had, by the twentieth century, caused mentally unstable members of his family to not only squander the family fortune but destroy a large amount of the Gaunt house's standing among pureblood society.

Marvolo had shared this information coldly, almost as if he was talking about some other unfortunate person's life and not his own, with all of the inflection the portrait put into his voice. Had Harry himself not known better he'd have been effortlessly fooled by Marvolo's casual dismissal of his inbred lunatic family, believing the man when he insinuated that all he felt for his relatives was icy disdain and contempt.

Although Harry was unable to see it himself he knew that Marvolo had to wish for more. It was human nature to want more than what you had, and that would have to be especially apparent in an... abusive situation... like his own.

"Was Dumbledore convicted of the child abuse, neglect, and abandonment charges?"

Harry glanced up briefly, catching the portraits dark blue eyes.

"No, the hearing was just about a change in guardianship, they mentioned the charges we were bringing up against Dumbledore but a court date has been set by the Ministry for a full trial."

Marvolo hmmmed.

"Do you have any idea how Dumbledore is going to refute your claims?"

Harry grimaced.

"Sirius is hoping that Dumbledore might comply with the charges and plead guilty so that we don't have to go through a trial that's sure to be quite a long one."

"But you don't believe that will happen, and neither does he."

Marvolo observed him shrewdly, his eyes giving nothing away. Harry avoided his gaze.

"It's like the Muggles say I suppose, hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Sirius is consulting with a Law Wizard who's trying to keep him informed of the possible angles Dumbledore could take along with the opposition to Sirius's guardianship."

The portrait looked at him consideringly, "Your Godfather is going to have the most difficulties with Dumbledore, however with a trial spanning out... I'm not entirely sure what you mean by a long trial," Marvolo raised one long black eyebrow up at him, disturbing his porcelain features. "Perhaps living with muggles has changed your perception of the wizarding law system, our trials and hearings are notably swift to take place and to be ruled upon. With a case of such high priority, and with such high profile participants you can be sure that everything will come to a close within the next few months."

Marvolo paused briefly, then added consolingly, "As for other bids for you guardianship you probably have already been informed that Sirius Black as your Godfather and cousin has the best claim on you. There are others of course just as closely related to you," here the portraits lip curled, "being as we are in the Wizarding World, however none of them will take precedence over him, and after the Magical Adoption is complete there will be no chance of anyone refuting his claims."

The spark of worry that had been in Harry ever since hearing that it was possible he could be handed over to the Malfoy's sputtered, fizzled, and died. His green eyes closed, and the boy's shoulders slumped in relief. He'd been sure that the Blood Adoption would help destroy whatever claim others had on him through blood but this was the wizarding world, anything was possible. That fact was something he was constantly reminded of.

Over summer Harry had turned over a new leaf. With the Ministry hearing so late in the summer, and with the hearing being public knowledge, venturing out into the wizarding world without being mobbed hadn't been possible. Sirius and Harry had spent most of their time outside of Black Manor among Muggles.

Much of their time was spent with Sirius guiding Harry though the sights of Russia, especially during the warmer months, as they took advantage of the regions softer weather. Mount Elbrus had been gorgeous. Viewing its snow capped peaks had sent Harry into a near frenzy with excitement, he'd never before been anywhere other than Surrey and Hogwarts. Being able to trek up Mount Elbrus's frozen peaks had been something of a dream come true. With a bit of magic they'd reached the top of the dormant volcano in no time, the air had been crisp and fresh and without muggle pollution. Taking in deep lungfulls of it had been wonderful, they'd had no worries about oxygen deprivation for Sirius had cast a filtered Bubble Head Charm on both of them. The spell had allowed Harry to enjoy the majestic mountain breeze without asphyxiating from the sudden change in elevation.

A Stability Spell had ensured that the surrounding area was secure, what had ensued in the aftermath could have been described by onlookers (of which there were none) as a snowball fight of anticlimactic proportions. However to Sirius and Harry it was something much more... serious. A noble fight to the death in the arctic atmosphere involving troves of snowballs, fortified defense systems, enemy lines being breached, enchanted snow balls, and an army of snow and ice warriors.

After two hours of heroic fighting a peace treaty was made between the two, the contract written in ice, and involving the immediate liquefaction of each army and a demand on Sirius's part for hot cocoa and and those "delightful Muggle squishy things," which were otherwise known... as marshmallows.

On a more academic note they'd visited Hermitage Museum, a place that had been founded in seventeen sixty-four by Catherine the Great herself in St. Petersburg where it was home to a treasure trove of art and culture which showed the very best highlights of its collection that included over three million items on subjects spanning the entire globe... both wizarding and muggle. It had been fascinating to discover that Catherine the Great's real name was Yekaterina Alexeevna and that the woman had been a Squib, and because of it had suffered at the hands of her mother, who had been a cold woman delighted at her daughter's abrupt change in status, and then, at her daughter's expense enjoyed the court intrigue and gossip.

Marvolo told him that Catherine the Great had been an impressive woman, pushing for reforms in both Muggle and Wizarding World's, although despite her attempts succeeding in few, other than education. Which was something, Marvolo mused, she was far ahead of her time about. Demanding education be given equally to everyone, Catherine was not a woman that many crossed, so she was able to win this battle with the Russian boyars.

"She would have been a Slytherin for sure," he said haughtily, "pity she was born a Squib, with her vigor the things the woman could have done for the magical world would have been ten fold when compared to the muggles."

Harry hadn't been insulted at the portraits casual prejudice, instead he'd been... amused. Seeing Marvolo's nose turn up at one of the greatest women in the history of Russia had been... comical. It was like Malfoy at school proclaiming, "My Father will hear of this!" as though all his classmates should rue the day Lucius Malfoy ever stepped foot on Hogwart's grounds. Childish... yes but also thoroughly enjoyable.

Marvolo also enquired about the nearing Blood Adoption Ritual, questioning when it would take place.

"Tonight."

The other's man's eyes sparked with surprise.

"So soon after the hearing?"

Harry nodded swiftly, a small fire of warmth kindled in his stomach, and a tiny smile curled across his lips.

"Yes, with the hearing so late in the holiday's we couldn't act until it was guaranteed that Sirius would win custody of me. And since Hogwart's starts so soon we can't waste any more time delaying things further."

"Then you know the result of the Blood Adoption?" Marvolo inquired.

"Yeah, I know exactly what will happen. All of it." Harry's voice was steady.

Still the blue eyed portrait persisted.

"You know of the ritual's effects on your body, you know of the pain the adoption will cause and not to both you and your Godfather but only to yourself?" Marvolo's voice was challenging, demanding an assurance of Harry's determination to go through with it. Marvolo was imposing these questions not to make him reconsider but to ensure that Harry had fully considered the effects such a decision would have not only on him, but on Sirius as well.

Marvolo continued softly, "You know if you are not sincere in your endeavours to become a Black that the adoption will reject you. The effects that it would have upon your person?"

Harry looked him in the eyes, there was not a trace of indecision on his face. No doubt. No fear. No concern. No worry. Just anticipation. He wasn't scared, he was looking forward to it.

Marvolo looked steadily at him, "You're ready for this." it wasn't really a question so much as a statement of fact, just not one that could be proved faulty.

"Yes."

AN- Blood Adoption in the next chapter! My Lords and Ladies, I hoped you enjoyed some of the backround into the Black family, Catherine the Great, Mount Elbrus, and the wizarding incest.

This is the Black Family Tree website (yes it is totally legit, Rowling made it herself and auctioned it off for proceeds to her charity, just like the Beedle Bard Book, I swear I didn't cheat! :)

I would like to thank you all once again for your continued support and reviews! I"ve had a marvelous time on Fanfiction so far and it is all thanks to my wonderful, perfect, genius reviewers who have all given me great ideas in how to approach Harry. Just an additional note (I've said this before, but incase you missed it) Harry will be GREY! I"m currently in the process of writing a Dark Harry story if you're interested but until then in this story he's GREY.

SPOILER- I want Harry to be guided on a fine line in between Darkness and Light, with Marvolo (who is Tom Riddle) pushing/guiding him toward the dark, and Sirius and Remus leading him towards the Light.

END OF SPOILERS- Btw Harry didn't have a Birthday celebration so I was wondering if you guys had any ideas for what Sirius and Remus should get him as a gift I'm going to be keeping the same gifts Ron/Hermione give him from the book.

Much love and my most sincere thanks to all of you,

Your friend in time,

*Kasamira


	8. Chapter 8: Renaissance

Disclaimer: My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition. -Gandhi

pre-AN-Thank you once again to all of my reviewers (even though I'm sure to say this again) I would like to say that reading your reviews is one of the best parts of posting these chapters. Reading your compliments, questions, and ideas is the best part of being on fanfiction. Thank you.

So without further ado, to my lovely Lords and Ladies I present to you:

Chapter 8:

Sanguinem Adoptionis

Harry was in distress. The pain that had been promised to him in that Blood Adoption book was attacking him. I dug into him, drilling deep holes and gashes into his body leaving agony in its wake. If Harry had had to boil it down to a single sensation the green eyed boy would have called it fire. The "distress" promised in the text came in the form of a flame which assaulted him, burning the boy from the inside out, and then shooting him with arrows that had been lit with fiendfyre. Piercing needles gouged his body, mangling his skin and shredding the muscle beneath. Even his bones felt as though they'd been transformed into a liquid inferno of heat.

Harry could feel them. His bones, churning inside his body, bending with an ease that wasn't portrayed painlessly throughout the fourteen year olds writhing form. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it the ritual was all going according to plan. Sirius and Harry had dotted their i's and crossed their t's, nothing left to chance, despite the last minute nature of the event. Things had been in plan all summer, they'd simply needed the go ahead from the Ministry. In the midst of the pain Harry tried to remember to earlier in the day, when he'd been full of a nervous sort of excitement at the thought of what the next few hours would bring.

"Are you sure about this Harry?"

Normally it was Sirius comforting Harry, but since the deadline for his return to Hogwart's was looming ever nearer Sirius had begun to... worry. Blue eyes wild with a startled look of panic Harry couldn't help but be reminded of a deer in headlights. Then the younger noticed that panic had morphed into something bordering on terror-stricken and sought to reassure the other.

"Sirius," he placed a steady hand on the others trembling arm, "I want this. You don't have to worry, I'm not going to back out, I"m not going to say no, and I'm going to follow this through." here he let a slight smile flit about his lips, "We don't ever want it to be said that Gryffindors are quitters."

The dog Animagus finally seemed to let a bit of the tension drain from his shoulders, it was a good thing too, the older had nearly been pulling his hair out by the roots. Worried about him, worried something would go wrong, worried about Dumbledore, worried about the Ministry, worried about the adoption disputes. Worried Harry would get hurt.

The green eyed teen knew that's what it came down to, Sirius was concerned about him, didn't want the other to have to live through the pain the adoption ritual was sure to cause. Sirius understood the necessity, understood why this should happen, understood that he had offered Harry the choice, and understood that his former godson had accepted. The other simply didn't want him to be hurt, frankly it was the last thing Sirius would wish for in the world. Even if the adoption hadn't been approved by the Ministry that wouldn't have stopped him from viewing Harry as his own son. And as family he should never have to hurt the other.

As a Gryffindor his instincts were screaming at him not to let this happen, and as the Slytherin he'd been raised to be the man understood the need for it. Knew that a few hours of pain would be extremely beneficial to Harry in the months and years to come. Too bad he was a Gryffindor at heart.

If Harry hadn't gotten enough information from the tome about the inner workings of the adoption ritual he had certainly been given an in depth study in the subject by Marvolo. Who seemed to be an expert at everything, whether that everything be dark or light magic the other had seen fit to educate Harry to the very best of his ability. But worse, the man actually expected him to take notes! In the end however the green eyed teen had to admit (very grudgingly) that the other had made leaps and bounds of information appear in the recesses of Harry's brain. It was certainly more than he'd ever learned in a single class at Hogwarts.

Black Manor had been thoroughly equipped for the night's featured proceedings, in addition to being the size of a small gothic castle is also had its fair share of... shall we say unique aspects. For example there was a room on the second floor east wing with Ancient Runes carved into the walls which refused to allow anyone without Black blood inside, the lake outside definitely had something worse than a Giant Squid in it, and there were dungeons. Not frequently used dungeons... but dungeons! Dungeons with an alarming number of... unpleasant devices in them that looked as though they'd been taken from the midst of the Muggle Spanish Inquisition. When he'd enquired about such things to one of the portraits (which he had learned earlier in the summer was named Arcturus) the teen had been informed that Sirius's mother's cousin named Araminta Meliflua had had a certain penchant for medieval Muggle Torture devices and had enjoyed collecting them. And trying them out, to make sure they worked, of course as Arcturus assured him, however Harry was less assured when Sirius informed him that Araminta had tried to get the Ministry to pass a law that would make Muggle Hunting legal.

But in addition to all of these... fascinating chambers in Black Manor there was one used for ritual. More specifically there were three used for rituals, one for light magic, one for dark, and one for neutral. It would never do, Sirius had said, to mix. There had been specific runes embedded into the walls of the chamber in order to aid each branch of magic, not using the correct chamber would only hinder the users success rate.

Blood Adoption, Harry was reminded, wasn't technically dark. But nor was it considered light, so the neutral chamber, which was often used for blood magic, was going to be put into use. Harry had enjoyed helping Sirius prepare the room, casting gentle strengthening and engorging charms on each rune had to be done carefully. Taking in the presence of the rune and assessing it was just the beginning the true difficulty lies in just how much power was needed to be put into the spell in order to repair them properly. They hadn't been used since the last century and as a result had needed careful treatment to restore the old runes to their previous glory.

At exactly 11:59 p.m. everything was set. A multitude of softly glowing hand made yellow and ivory candles were dispelled across the dark chamber, the little wicks flared with light and transformed the chamber into a softly glowing sanctuary. Harry wasn't fooled, despite ages of neglect and disuse blood pervaded his senses, he could smell the stench of it, rich and coppery throughout the room, and could practically taste pennies at the back of his throat. Many would have seen the candles as a source of light, of comfort, and of gentleness. All Harry saw were the shadow it created, the feeling of his hair standing up on the back of his neck, and the goosebumps running rampant on his arms.

Dark velvet robes concealed each of their forms, both of them wore black but neither put the hoods up. The teen was able to see Sirius's pale face from the center of the room, the elder man wasn't looking at him, instead concentrating solely on the text before him. Harry could see the other shaping the words in his minds eye, Sirius didn't know Sumerian, didn't know how to read it, pronounce the words, or even if the alphabet was phonetic. Knowing the language didn't matter, knowing its intent did. Feeling the Sumerian rituals intent was the only thing to guide them through this.

Originally Sumerian had never been written on paper, but instead on stone tablets, however stone tablets even with a weightless charm were less than convenient to carry around. So during the last millennia or so all the Sumerian writings had been transferred over onto parchment, thankfully it had been no fool doing the transferring otherwise the magic might have been lost forever. The intent was still there, even after so many centuries the rituals idea was carved into that book's pages more deeply than had it been stone. Latin was the languages traditionally used by wizards, however in some older rites and rituals older languages were used for security reasons. Latin, by wizarding standards was the new age of language, like English, it was the most commonly used all over the world. Latin was used, not for its simplicity, but because of the amount of variation there was in the language. A single word contained an incredible amount of power, especially verbs, verbs in both English and Latin usually spoke of an action taking place, however in Latin the verb conveyed a deeper meaning. The verb spoke of the subject, the gender, if it was singular or plural, the tense the sentence would be in, and the mood such as indicative, imperative, or subjunctive. In Latin, the verb was often situated at the end of sentences or clauses, this action benefited rituals because if a rite was not completed down to the very last syllable nothing would happen. Every word was needed no matter if it was merely an adverb or a preposition.

The intent was basic; claim. An assertion that was meant to be taken no matter what the consequences, not a request but a reclamation made before magic of something that was going to happen. Something that would make an unequivocal bond between the participants whomever they might be.

And as Sirius began speaking the language he did not know, that assertion was made. Harry could feel it in his bones, every square inch of his being screamed at the teenager to fight, to stop this violation from happening. It felt as though he'd been destroyed, torn away from everything he'd ever known or felt. As though his magic was being taken from him, physically gouged from his very body and cleaved from gaping wounds that surely must cover him, with all the agony twisting through him. It was as though he'd been pierced again, and again, and again,

But the fire was just the physical sensations that encompassed him. Mentally things were far worse. If his mangled body was dying his brain was growing, expanding forth out of his skull as neurons fired like pistons. In addition to the physical pain of the Blood Adoption transformation there was the mental pain of a thousand rusty needles piercing his brain.

The magical aspect of the experience was quite different, and it was that, and only that which kept Harry from utterly losing his mind during the ordeal. Magically things were expanding as well, but not in a way that was painful. Exactly the opposite in fact, instead of the burning white hot pain coursing through his veins the sensation was cool. It was like a refreshing stream pooling inside of him putting out the fire, running over his mangled body and filling in the gaping wounds.

The alternate sensations seemed to go on for days, with Sirius still intoning the Sumerian text in the back round behind Harry's own screams. The small part of his brain that was still functioning around the pain noted with surprise that his voice hadn't given out already, or at least ripped out from the prolonged use.

Harry may not have been aware of much but Sirius definitely was. Desperately trying to block out his godson's hoarse cries of agony, wishing fervently that he could cast a silencing charm. He barely had to concentrate on the Sumerian text before him, intent guided the words gushing from his mouth without any effort on his part, that unfortunately left him helplessly exposed to the horrible sounds pouring from his son's mouth.

At the very height of all this, when Harry feared the pain would overcome him, and when Sirius feared that his writhing and thrashing on the floor would break him in half, when Sirius thought he couldn't contain himself from rushing to Harry's side in an attempt to comfort him.

The runes around him glowed golden, the yellow and ivory wick candles flamed brightly a lit... that was when Harry's eyes opened. Having been clenched shut in indescribable torment when the boy once more opened them they were no longer Lily Evans eyes. No longer were they softly almond shaped with a gentle green color, now they were like cut emeralds; Avada Kedavra green as though the image of the Killing Curse was still reflected in those eyes.

It spoke of the first physical change to take apperance so vividly. The next was magical as something unfurled inside of the boy, a presence that had remained so deep inside of Harry for so long was now making itself known, coiled like a serpent it was opening its scales for the first time in almost a decade and a half.

Magically it was as if large bands once placed on the emerald boy's chest were being removed, he was taking in his first rebirth breaths. It was a renaissance of change, it was only just beginning.

The world had not yet begun to see... Hadrian Canis Black.

Hours later Hadrian would opened those emerald eyes for the first time in the Heir Apparent's chambers... exhausted from the previous ordeal, but with a sense of accomplishment that spoke to this new age of renaissance.

AN- Hello! My lovely lords and ladies I know that this is a short chapter however another should be up in the next two days, so bear with me :) Sorry about the Latin language lecture in the middle but I wanted to emphasize why Sirius was using Sumerian instead of Latin. If I wanted to be a bit more blunt you could say that Latin is trending right now, but Sirius is going old school and needs a bit more UMPH in his life. :) :)

What's more? Please review, review review! I adore reading your comments and love the excitement it brings me to hear your questions! Right now I'm having a wonderful discussion with several people so please if you have any questions please review or PM me and I'd love to answer!

Your Friend in Time (someone got it!),

*Kasamira


	9. Chapter 9: Betrayals and Family

Disclaimer: NO! NO! no no nonononononononononononononono! Why would I ever, ever In the history of my entire existence ever wish to own something by Rowling! It's in a world where Weasley and Dumbledore bashing is not an Olympic Sport! Where Harry is not Voldemort's long lost loving song, where Draco and Harry are not besotted friends, and where there's no Dursley mutilations! Can you even harbor the thought! Not a single mangled mutilated mained corpse ever appeared!

Chapter 9: Reactions

Outisde the windows of the Hogwart's Express harvested farmland whipped by, the speed of the train turned the landscape blurry, and it took a sickening amount of concentration to focus on a single object. The train ride had just pulled out of the station, and he was alone in the compartment. Leaning back into the seat the new 4th year contemplated the last twenty-four hours.

His body still ached, nothing could be done about it Sirius had said. The ritual's effects had to fade away on their own, Pain Relief Potions would have no effect. He'd been unable to pursue any sort of rest the previous night, Sirius had picked his agonized body from the floor and had caried him to his room. The elder man had stayed with him all night, knowing he'd never be able to sleep even after such as exhausting experience. The changes which had taken place during the ritual were still wrecking havoc on his body.

Sirius had stayed all night, a single hand combing thru his hair, softly speaking his name in his ear gently.

"Hadrian Canis Black."

By morning Hadrian had become more aware of his surroundings. And instead of crushing exhaustion he started to feel a bit wired, his eyes burned, and his teeth ached like someone had taken a club to them, but he was awake.

Sirius's first order of business was dressing him in robes that, "befitted the Black heir," he'd been bursting at the seams with excitement, dressing his new son in a multitude of robes, discarding each every time until finally settling on a single pair.

They were a deep emerald green, silk that cascaded and wrapped his slim form like liquid smoke, they had a high collar and long sleeves which emphasized Hadrian's ivory complexion. The robes weren't overly tight or loose but clutched to Hadrian's body in an easy sort of elegance that Sirius had always pulled off effortlessly.

His Father's next move was to conjure three large full length mirrors, taller than Hadrian himself by over two feet. What the teen saw shocked him.

Gone were the round bottle glasses, in their place was bare skin, his eyes were different. Hadrian realized dimly, gone were his mother's gentle almond shaped green eyes, in their place was something darker, deeper, and just... different. Deep Avada Kedavra green eyes stared back at Hadrian, they weren't soft anymore, they stared Hadrian down like cut emeralds.

His short black messy hair had been replaced by something longer, that could be tied off at the base of his neck like Sirius did. Instead of unrelentingly tangled his locks had transformed into straight silky strands which fell thickly around his new eyes.

Hadrian appeared to have taken on the Black complexion, because his previously tanned skin had vanished, replaced in its stead was a flawless porcelain facial apperance, an aquiline nose, high scuplted cheekbones, and thin deep red lips.

The teen took two steps forward, reaching out a small hand to touch the sight before him. Trying to discern whether or not it was real, he look like a whole new person. Different, unrecognizable, unable to verify if it was the same person he'd seen in the mirror for the past fourteen years that stared back at him, disbelief, incredulity, shock... pleasure. He liked it. The change was something... he welcomed.

He looked nothing like Lily and James Potter. He was his own person. He was Sirius Orion Black's son. He was Hadrian Canis Black.

Turning to Siriu-no turning to his Father, Hadrian had experienced a brief flash of fear. Uncertain whether the other approved of the changes. He'd need not have woried, His Father's expression spoke of everything Hadrian could have hoped for. Hapiness, acceptance, joy... love.

There weren't just physical changes which appeared to have taken place, somehow Hadrian's mind felt...clearer. Less cluttered and muffled by outside matters. But at the same time, with less of the clutter it felt as though something had taken its place. A presence that had turned on its end during the ritual and awakened without procession.

Even now Hadrian could feel it in the back of his mind, a presence that felt oddly similar to Marvolo's locket. Not a perfect match but close enough that it caused him to notice that the presence in his mind was foreign. However even though it felt... different, Hadrian was also aware enough to know that the presence was deep rooted, as if it had been asleep inside of him for decades and as now just rearing its head.

They arrived on Platform 9 3/4 with plenty of time to spare. But already, fifteen minutes before the train departed the area was flooded with nervous witches and wizards. Some Hadrian didn't recognize but he also saw many whose faces had become familiar over his Hogwart's years. As they walked through the platform Hadrian saw that the two of them were getting a series of looks from the occupants, shock, alarm, and even horror passed across faces before relaxing back down into relief. The emerald eyed teen knew their reactions to his father were justified, the man, Sirius Black, had been labeled a mass murderer, seeing him now walking around had to be shocking. However that didn't mean he enjoyed people thinking such things about Sirius.

He was on the receiving end of a few looks as well, not as many as Sirius, but his presence next to his father garnered quite a few curious expressions on his classmates and his peers parents.

Before Hadrian could step onto the train Sirius grabbed him by the shoulder, and gently turned him around to face the other dark haired man. His father knelt down beside him, Hadrian was embarrassed to admit that the ritual had not given him any more inches he so desperately wished for, so that when Sirius knelt next to him they were right about at eye level.

Sirius smiled, "I know that this year we weren't really able to celebrate your birthday, but I want you to know that I didn't forget."

Hadrian flushed, embarrassment rushing to his cheeks, "Father, it's fine you didn't need to get me anything. You've given me more than enough this summer, already." the man had given him far more than he'd ever been able to imagine receiving.

His Father just shook his head, smile still curling around his aristocratic features as he handed over a small wrapped package and Hadrian's shrunken trunk.

"Wait until you're on the train to open it."

And before the younger was able to respond, he suddenly found himself swept into a bone crushing embrace. His Father's long arms wrapping around his small frame, burying his face in Hadrian's neck and inhaling, reminding the emerald eyed teen of Padfoot. He hugged back just as strongly, as though worried someone would tear the two apart. Hogwart's had been like a home to him ever since he was eleven years old, now he'd found something much better, and he was dreading going back.

Finding a compartment was easy enough, the train was only half full, and Hadrian now took his seat in the back part of the train quietly. Glancing out of the window to the right his eyes searched for Sirius, only to find the other man looking directly back at him, wave twice, an encouraging smile on his face, before turning on his heel and apparating with a muffled pop.

Untied the cord binding the package, and quickly tore the paper off. Inside was a small silver object, with curling decorations traveling up the sides and golden impressions embossed, slowly up the side. On the back was a note, that read,

"This is a two-way mirror, it was given to me by my Father when I left for Hogwart's, I have the other mirror to the set with me. If you ever need to speak to me, Hadrian, about anything, simply speak my name into it; you're face will appear in my mirror and I'll be able to talk to you through yours. James and I used to use them in separate detentions."

A smile curled warmly around his lips at that last sentence, imagining eleven year old James and Sirius mischievously defying McGonagall after already being punished by the woman. Mere seconds after the teen had tucked the mirror away the compartment door slid open, and Ron and Hermione came in.

They backed up slightly, in surprise when Hadrian turned his face towards them. And Hermione stuttered out in embarrassment,

"Oh, sorry we were just looking for someone else."

He raised a single black eyebrow, "Just who else were you looking for Hermione?"

The frizzy haired witch expression filled with surprise, and it was then that Hadrian realized that they didn't recognize him, neither Ron nor Hermione could distinguish whom he was. A thrill of amusement slitted through him, standing, and extending his hand to each of them in turn.

"Hadrian Black, I believe we've... met before. It was about three years ago, and on this very train."

Neither accepted his hand, in favor of gawking at him in shock. Finally Hermione stammered out, "H-harry."

"Hadrian now, Hermione." he correctly gently.

Ron erupted, face turning as red as his hair, "Bloody hell, mate! You-you look... very," he made an inarticulate gesture with his hands, before finally lamely settling on, "different."

Hadrian's lips twitched.

"You didn't do anything illegal did you Harry, is that why we haven't heard from you all summer? We were dreadfully worried, you know, that you'd been hurt, or done... something." her eyes trailed up and down his form, "like this."

Beginning to feel a tad annoying at the way the two of them were jumping to conclusions, he spoke again.

"Like being blood adopted by my Godfather? And it's Hadrian, Hermione."

Ron's eyes went wide, "You mean the papers are true! We thought it was full of rot, Mum and Dad and Dumbledore all said that you'd gone home for the summer at the Dursley's. How did you get permission to go with Black?"

"Permission from who? We filed a formal request at the Ministry to have my magical guardianship changed-" but before he could finish Hermione cut him off.

"Your guardianship changed, Harry, why would you want to do that?! You don't even know Black, Dumbledore's your guardian." her voice had risen to fill the compartment, then she paused slightly, her eyes widening.

"You knew Dumbledore was my guardian." it came out formed like a question, but he'd been given all of the validation he needed. "You knew that he put me with the Dursley's, who knew how the Dursley's treated me."

He was lost for words.

"Get out."

This time both of them stared up at him in surprise, identical sounds of,

"Har-Harry, what-do you" and "We-we didn't, we never."

"For the second time, get out. And for the third time Hermione, it's Hadrian."

And with a shove that was half physical half magical the two Gryffindors were ejected from the compartment, the door slammed shut behind them, and the curtains pulled tight over the windows. He felt sick, disgusted, betrayed. As the train pulled out of the station, he was unable to believe that his two best friends had done this to him. Known that Dumbledore was his guardian, known that as his guardian Dumbledore was responsible for him, and that they were still perfectly fine with him being sent every summer to the Dursley's. He'd told them how he'd been treated there, for Merlin's sake, Ron and his brother's had pulled bars off his windows and picked the lock on his door, where he'd been locked in, to rescue him from that house. It wasn't possible that they couldn't have known, he'd asked for them to send him food because the Durslely's practically starved him. And still... nothing.

That wasn't something he could even consider forgiving. They might as well have actively participated in the neglect, Hadrian knew that in the Muggle world, had the two been adults they would have been able to be charged. Knowing that he was being neglected, seeing evidence, and doing nothing about it. But in fact almost encouraging it. He felt vile, horrible, dirty, and disgusting.

The anger had come mostly after they'd left, when he'd told them to get out it had been mostly out of shock and disbelief. But now, through the red haze in front of his eyes, Hadrian was able to see more clearly. Was able to look back on their friendship better, and realized with some degree of shock, that he'd become best friends with the very first witches and wizards he'd met. That Ron and Hermione were his whole circle of friends, sure there were other people in his year in Gryffindor, Dean, Seamus, Neville, Parvati, Lavender. But when was the last time he'd had a conversation with them that was more in depth than asking what they'd had for Charms homework, or if they were going to the Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw match later in the day.

They were acquaintances, not friends. People you could easily talk to about every day things that didn't really matter from one week to the next. Spun sugar conversations about nothing.

The train had barely been moving for five minutes when he had two other visitors, Neville he recognized, but not the blonde haired girl he was pulling in tow. She had her Hogwart's black robes on already, and Hadrian saw from the blue crest on her shoulder, that she was a Ravenclaw. She was small, with very long wavy blonde hair that flowed down past her waist, with pretty cerulean blue eyes.

Peering at him from beneath her fair hair, she said dreamily,

"Do you mind if we sit down Hadrian?"

He glanced up at her in surprise, then glanced at Neville questionably before replying, cautiously.

"Sure, go ahead."

Neville coughed awkwardly.

"I'm Neville Longbottom, this is Luna Lovegood." the boy extended his hand, and Hadrian gripped it automatically, a reassuring smile on his face.

"Hadrian Black... nice to meet you Luna." Neville glanced up at him in shock, recognition flashed in his eyes, and along with it a flicker of embarrassment that Hadrian put down to his peer not remembering him.

"Oh, I-um, sorry Harr-Hadrian." he flushed.

"It's fine Neville, I was Blood Adopted by my godfather over the summer." knowing that the other would be curious.

The other nodded briefly, muttering softly back, "Yeah, I saw that in the Daily Prophet, and that Sirius Black was declared innocent. Gran was really surprised to see he'd Blood Adopted you, she said it's not something that wizards do now days." here the boy rolled his eyes, "she said that 'in her time' such a thing was considered a high honor and hoped that you appreciated what the Black's had done for you."

Amusement flared in Hadrian, Neville's Gran sounded just like he'd described before in their third year; strict and stern with no room for fooling around. He decided to tease Neville a bit.

"Did she also tell you that when she was a girl, they didn't use parchment, they had to write on stone tablets, and that they didn't have ink or quills either, they had to use a stylus to carve their homework into stone. And if there was a single mistake in spelling their teachers would smash the stone tablet without a thought and make them carve it all over again." a mischievous light had lit his eyes, "and of course there wasn't a train to take them to Hogwart's they had to walk there, through blizzards, and thundering rain, and blazing heat, and desolate cold, and uphill both ways."

He was rewarded with the nervous expression melting off Neville's face laughter bubbling out of his chest, and a snickering snort from the girl.

The fair haired girl, Luna, he remembered, hadn't appeared to be paying attention to either of them. But instead had taken out a magazine, turned it upside down and began peering at it curiously, an oddly colored large pair of glasses hanging precariously on her small nose.

The following hours on board the train was spent in relative silence, Luna entranced in the Quibbler, Neville reading a book on Herbology, and Hadrian reading up on his new DADA textbook. The quietness only interrupted every now and then by a bit of short conversation about a smattering of subjects, Quidditch, the new school year ahead of them, but mostly about the summer. Hadrian, who'd been outside of the wizarding world for nearly all of the summer had been brought up to speed quickly, he'd been shocked at what Neville had told him.

There had been Death Eater attacks at the Quidditch World Cup, muggles had been strung up, tortured, and then Obliviated by Ministry Aurors. And that, shockingly, Ron's wand had been stolen at the World Cup and then used to cast the Dark Mark into the sky. He'd nearly gotten into a large amount of trouble by the Ministry Aurors when they discovered it was Ron's wand used to cast Voldemort's sign, however the boy had had an alibi given to him by almost all of his family.

After the trolley went past, Hadrian was on his way back to their compartment from the loo, he was briefly stopped by several Slytherins he recognized to be Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, and Theodore Nott. None of them recognized him, something that was apparent when the usual sneers didn't cross their faces at his presence.

Instead he was served with a measuring glance, and within fifteen seconds had somehow been herded into their compartment with a few words. Introductions were made inside.

Draco extended his hand, "Draco Malfoy," a hint of artistic superiority tinged his voice's inflections.

Hadrian's lips warmed slightly, forming a half smile, marveling at the scene laid out before him, before clasping the hand firmly.

"Hadrian Black."

Malfoy's hand in his own tightened momentarily before going limp, the other boys eyes flickering in shock before flitting up and down his body as though assuring himself that Hadrian did indeed have the Black features. Features, he reminded himself, Malfoy would be very familiar with, seeing as his mother was of the Black line.

"Black," his cousin whispered, lips barely moving, "I was unaware that there was an heir to the Black line... unless." Malfoy's gaze turned from speculative, to shocked, dropping his hand like he might get cooties, "Harry Potter,"

"Now it's Hadrian Black," All this correcting people was getting annoying.

But Malfoy appeared to be just like Neville, completely accepting of the changes made. He didn't even appear angry. Instead, while Malfoy appeared to have swallowed a lemon, his face nearly immediately reverting into a calculating expression. Something that wasn't altogether comforting to his cousin.

"My apologies Hadrian, with that said I'd like to... ask your pardon for the many... disagreements we've participated in over the course of our Hogwart's career, and for our relationship to begin on a lighter note. For family's sake." Once again Malfoy offered his hand.

And unlike the time three years ago, he took it.

To purebloods family was everything, that's part of the reason they had such a closed circuit community. If you weren't one of them you didn't get any of the respect archived specifically to every pureblood at birth. He wasn't just some halfblood with luck anymore, now he was Draco's cousin, a pureblood both things which came down to a single word; family. Beside Draco, Blaise Zabini nodded as did Theodore Nott, past histories were forgotten. Obviously things had irrevocably changed over the summer, and these changes had to be reflected in the attitude and reception Hadrian would now receive whether this was at Hogwart's or outside its ancient walls and in the wizarding world. He would never be looked upon as the same person again, Harry Potter was a halfblood wizard, the son of Lily and James Potter. Harry Potter was best friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Harry Potter was a Gryffindor through and through.

Harry Potter didn't exist anymore.

"Hadrian then, Draco, we are family after all."

AN- Oh I'm terribly sorry my dear lords and ladies, I almost forgot an AN! Such an oversight on my part, but I do hope that you'll enjoy this new chapter, Hadrian's going to be experiencing alot of changes when he arrives at school :) and I wanted him to have a firmer footing when he arrives.

Many of you have commented on Hadrian's new name: Hadrian Canis Black, I did want to explain it in an AN so that there's no more confusion.

Etymology: Hadrian comes from the Latin and means 'dark one' it is also a star system called The Hadrian System and is located in the Vendor Sector of the Alpha Centauri Sector Block.

Canis: (some of you didn't like that Sirius wasn't his middle name but Sirius and Canis are almost identical in meaning, and Canis Major is also a star. I chose Canis over Sirius for two reasons, one like previously stated they mean almost exactly the same thing (wild dog, wolf) and Sirius is known as the dog star. Also Sirius is a very well used name in the Black Family, I felt it was overused and wanted to try something a bit more... interesting :)

Black: I debated over Potter-Black, but decided with the blood adoption ritual that now Hadrian is just a Black, like in the chapter above he's not a Potter anymore so having that last name wouldn't be accurate.

Hope that answered any questions you have pertaining the story :) and once more I would like to ask you all to REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW, especially if you have any questions regarding the story I will do my best to answer back quickly and accurately.

Your Friend in Time,

*Kasamira


	10. Chapter 10

AN- To my faithful readers... I must apologize most profusely for my terribly extended absence. It may be no excuse at all but during these last few days away I was in an awfully dark place, it was filled with shadows, and light switches that clicked on and off with no electrical reaction. But that's not even the worst part... my Wifi! Oh my Wifi! Well to quote (basically every funeral) ashes to ashes. Thankfully, I didn't suffer alone, my sister nearly suffered a cardiac arrest when she realized she would be unable to finish her supenatural fanfic. Her suffering was so horrific she almost gave me an aneurism from having such close proximity to her.

But all in all, I am terribly apologetic about the delay, I can promise you it WILL NOT happen again (unless there is... you know... a zombie/vampire/werewolf/alien/AI/black hole/quasar/gamma ray apocalypse, so until World War Z (hopefully with zombies of the Walking Dead variety) my wonderful lords and ladies, I present to you...

Induction:

It was grand. The house was built atop a large hill, clearly in a position of power, as the structure gazed down on the houses below in the village. Its domain, clearly, stretched over at least half the town. Even in its plainly dismal state; windows boarded up, ivy snaking its arms up the walls like tentacles, and tiles, which had once formed a beautiful walkway, had been smashed and broken from years of neglect and vandalism.

Only the gardens remained pristine, as though they'd remained untouched by all the erosion of the outside world. It spoke of a previous life, a time not so long ago when things had been different.

That is... as far as the muggles were able to see.

For another wizard the house had been transformed, transformed from a muggle mansion of disuse and neglect into a wizarding structure which belied all evidence of its importance.

The manor grounds were immaculately kept, hedges trimmed styled like hair in a beauty salon. Glistening marble walkways approached the house like an entourage, and the gleaming fountain on the right side of the property was bordering on tacky.

Voldemort gazed at his surroundings, Riddle Manor was a place he detested. It spoke of a multitude of memories he'd be much more content to remain just that; memories. But instead he was dredging them up and then throwing them in his own face, like ice cold water.

There was only one good thing about this place; it was the sight of his rebirth. His own private renaissance if you will, his first kill held a certain place in the Dark Lord's heart that was neither warm nor loving.

The memory of his... grandparents in this house was distasteful. And thus his killing of them only marked the reason for his actions, they'd been disgusting Muggles, so caught up in their own wealth that they'd been unable to see much further than the silver spoon they'd been born with.

Just a few months previously he'd been in the same location in a much different position and in a much different body. Like Quirrell this body was unsuited for his presence, it was weak, unable to contain Voldemort and his magic simultaneously. However the body was suited for other tasks; public appearances were especially valuable commodity.

That was enough doleful reminiscing about one of his ancestral homes, he might as well have been going on like a first year Hufflepuff away from home for the first time in their miserable lives.

Hogwart's was just as he remembered it. Not just structurally, though nothing had changed in that department either. The walls were still stone, there were still the Slytherin dungeons, and Gryffindor Tower, along with the Great Hall, and the Chamber beneath the lake.

The students were the same as well. There were Malfoy' in Slytherin, Weasley' in Gryffindor, Bones in Ravenclaw, Macmillan' in Hufflepuff... even the poltergeist was still deathly afraid of the Bloody Baron.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Especially in this place, with each new addition to the staff the standards had fallen exponentially. Finally, after more than half a century; he was back.

- Page Break -

Lightning flashed, thunder rumbled its return attack. The two had been quarreling all night without any hint of a respite, Voldemort was unsure which of the two rival sides had claimed responsibility for the unending torrents that were raining down upon the castle. But that, nevertheless, didn't change the fact that Dumbledore had to shout above the roaring rain pouring down on the school. The sorting had been brief, each student going to their new respective house without too much commotion.

Things changed when the latest name was called out.

"Black, Hadrian"

Instantly whispers had erupted throughout the student body, each one flying around more ludicrous than the next.

"yes, that's what I heard..."

"son of Black, the mass murderer..."

"used to be Harry Potter..."

"heard he's really Grindelwald's son in disguise..."

"after the Blood Adoption he killed five wizards who were helping..."

"fed their bodies to his pet snake..."

"speakes Parseltongue you know..."

"next Dark Lord..."

"You-Know-Who's heir... I say he's coming back..."

Apparently the wizarding world wasn't looking too favorably upon their returning savior. However... at the Slytherin table Riddle noticed a distinct... lack of mockery, no whispers, no snide comments, no sneering gazes, no ridicule. In its stead were calculating gazes which belied a renewed sense of interest, and those expressions seemed to originate with Draco Malfoy.

Draco Lucius Malfoy, heir apparent to the Malfoy line, Lucius's son, and Abraxas's grandson. He was the spitting image of his father, but Voldemort was able to define the subtle influences of the Black line from his mother, Narcissa, in the boy's face.

It was softer than his father and grandfathers. Less harsh lines, and more inclined slopes, which pointed distinctly to an aristocratic facial structure and upbringing in case Tom had been unable to discern such a thing from the way the Malfoy heir carried himself.

Tom was reminded of the peacocks which resided in Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire.

But still as the hat was contemplating, Tom observed the boy underneath the sorting cap. He'd changed drastically since the last time the Dark Lord had laid eyes on the boy. But, it was more than the usual growth that children went through in spurts and droves.

Gone were the hideous glasses, and tangled hair that made him look like he'd just gone through a hurricane riding a Firebolt. And in its stead were blazing emerald eyes, Avada Kedavra green. Not many would have known, except the Dark Lord himself, who had seen, and cast that spell quite enough to know the exact color down to the very minute details. Replacing the untidy hair was a curtain of wavy locks which Tom noticed were quite similar to Regulus' hair.

It was more than that though, the physical features of a Potter were gone, and replacing them were the Black aristocratic facial structures in full glory. Tom knew enough about Blood Adoption to realize this was an expected outcome, physically all was normal. What the Dark Lord was particularly interested in were the magical changes.

Watching Draco Malfoy's cousin underneath the sorting hat, lips moving furiously as the boy appeared to be speaking directly to the hat above his head, finally the cap's brim opened and out came the cry of...

"SLYTHERIN!"

The stem of Dumbledore's goblet snapped, Hagrid let out a loud cry of dismay, McGonagall gasped, Snape sneered in disgust. All of that commotion at the Head Table was drowned out from the Gryffindor's reaction, most of them had known that Hadrian Black had previously been Harry Potter. And all of them had been looking forward to having him back in their house.

The Slytherins clapped politely, fixed expressions of serenity on each face. It would have taken a trained body language expert to have perceived the spark of triumph in Draco Malfoy's face... Tom Riddle was not trained, neither was he an idiot.

The Dark Lord's eyes glittered as he followed the graceful steps of Hadrian Black, as the fourth year made his way toward the Slytherin table, taking his place on his cousin's right next to Blaise Zabini. How... interesting. The Slytherin house had its own system of hierarchy and young Hadrian Black had just made quite the interesting splash.

Perhaps this warranted a second look, he had all year afterall, to accomplish his goals, and with his new... position in Hogwart's what could have been easier. A teacher taking an interest in their students academics.

Hadrian Black was an anomaly.

Tom didn't like anomalies.

Over an hour later, when the feast was coming to a close, the weather seemed to reflect the turbulent emotions flowing through the castle. The thunder seemed to be getting closer, crackling barely a second after lighting flashed. Over the tumult outside the students rambunctious chattering could barely be heard, and it appeared Dumbledore was having the same difficult in getting his students attention to signal the end of the feast.

"Well, now that," but it appeared none of the students were able to hear, "Children, children, settle down now." the Headmaster appeared to be getting nowhere, and the elder wizard pulled out his wand Voldemort saw him begin to flick it to set off a few bangs.

"Headmaster, if I may interrupt..." he spoke calmly over the noise.

Dumbledore looked at him, surprise lighting his aged features, apparently no one had interrupted him in the midst of his Welcoming Feast Speech. And gestured for his new staff member to continue.

"Perhaps a Sonorous Charm would be prudent considering the... less than favorable acoustic conditions for your students. Shouting, will do no good, and perhaps only strain you... mature vocal chords.' it was a reasonable solution, logical. But half the staff were looking at him like he'd done something unforgivable, McGonagall was staring at him like he'd just gutted one of her precious tabbies.

The grey haired Headmaster had, after giving him a look of contemplation, nodded graciously.

"Wonderful idea, Professor Gaunt."

At the mention of his name, several professors froze on instinct, their hands instinctively twitching toward their wands. Tom smirked, he didn't need their trust, but the former Slytherin was fully able (and willing) to work with the guilt they felt at immediately suspecting him.

Baseless reasons, they automatically assumed, because Professor Gaunt's family had migrated to America during some of the first migrations, Tom had easily spun the story of John of Gaunt escaping with his children and going underground in 1399 after their ancestor was deposed by the York's.

His life was well documented. Taught by tutors after his parents had been killed during Grindelwald's reign, taken his NEWT's at sixteen, had passed with flying colors, taken up several teaching jobs since then over the past five years, but had never stayed long.

The young wizard was looking for something permanent in his life after the tragic death of his family. It was a sob story that Tom had no trouble writing the script for, drafting it, and acting it out. Lights, camera, action! He was a born actor.

"CHILDREN!"

Dead silence.

Dumbledore chuckled, his blue eyes twinkling merrily.

"Well, now that I have your attention, and now that you have all been fed and watered," someone gave a loud "Hmph!" from the Gryffindor table.

"I must once more request your attention, while I give out a few notices from our staff members. Mr. Filch has made a list of forbidden objects that are not permitted inside Hogwart's. This list includes four hundred and thirty-seven items including Screaming Yo-yos and Fanged Frisbees. If any of you would like to see such a list it can be seen in Mr. Filch's office."

Dumbledore smiled blithely at all of them, as if he expected each and every one of them to march right on down to Filch's office to gaze in awe upon such a list of banned objects.

Tom snorted.

He wasn't the only one.

"And of course, the Forbidden Forest will as always remain forbidden, and out of bounds to all students. It is with great pain I must inform you that the Inter House Quidditch Games will not be happening this year-"

The elderly wizard was abruptly cut off by a loud chorus of outraged cries centering from the Gryffindor table, more specifically the Weasley twins. The rest of the teams appeared to appalled at such a travesty to speak.

Tom felt a brief flicker of exasperation, it was a sports suspension, these children were acting as though someone had mutilated a puppy and shoved the remains down their throats.

"And the reason for the cancellation of Quidditch season is due to a special event that Hogwart's is honored to be hosting come this October. It is an honor that I'm sure all of you will immensely enjoy participating in, and it is with a great amount of pleasure to announce that this year Hogwart's will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament!"

And once again the whole of Hogwart's was privy to the inner workings of several select Gryffindor's brain waves.

"You're joking right!" one of the Weasley twins shouted scornfully.

More than a few students found this amusing, Tom observed, as nearly half the student population suddenly found it appropriate to break in to noisy peals of laughter. The Slytherins and most of the Ravenclaws remained silent, their parents had undoubtedly told them over the course of the summer of the events to be taking place at Hogwart's. If only to warn them.

"I can assure you Mr. Weasley that I most certainly am not joking," Dumbledore seemed amused, McGonagall glared at the Weasley twins as though they had personally insulted her by interrupting.

"But back to the Tournament, the Triwizard Tournament is an event that was made... well... quite a while ago by wizards who were interested in a friendly game between the European schools of magic. Over the years this has come to include just the largest schools; Hogwart's, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. During the course of the Tournament a single student from each school will be elected to compete in the competition, this student will be a school representative and as such present to the world every aspect of our school. It is a great honor to be chosen."

The Dark Lord stared at the former Transfiguration Professor with a certain amount of amusement. Those friendly competitions had amounted in a death toll so large the tournaments had been stopped, with so many magical children dying every five years, the competition was more of a helper to the dying out of the wizarding world than a bonus of inter school cooperation.

It made an ironic sort of sense that Dumbledore would... forget to mention such a thing.

"And this year the Department of Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the world is ripe and ready to be plucked for another attempt at European cooperation. It was decided that it was long overdue for a new tournament, I mean really the last one was that war between the muggles in... hmmm 1568 I believe. The seventy years war? The eighty year war? Oh well, it was a long time ago and after a while history does begin to lose its meaning."

The current Transfiguration teacher cleared her throat loudly, and the Headmaster glanced apologetically her way. Tom smirked, Dumbledore really was McGonagall's bitch.

"But... anyway, a story for another time. This year the heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October and from there on the selection of the three champions will take place on Samhein, All Hallows Eve, where an impatrial judge has the opportunity to decide which students from each schools are worthy to have the honor to represent their schools bestowed upon them. And further to compete in the international competition fro the Triwizard Cup, and not only the glory of their school, but the acknowledgement of such an achievement to the entire wizarding world. Along with a thousand Galleons as prize money."

Each student in the hall gazed raptly at Dumbledore, nearly sitting at attention, so eager were they to hear more.

"To assure ourselves that we are able to have our students participate in the safest possible way, the heads of the foreign schools have elected to set forth an age limit on the contenders for the tournament. ONLY those who are of age, that is seventeen years or older, will be permitted to participate in the tournament."

The Weasley twins both chose to, once again, show their disbelief and displeasure at such an announcement. Tom was beginning to detest the two red haired dirges.

"That's RUBBISH! BOOO!"

They were quickly joined by about a quarter of the school, only to back down at the sparks shooting from McGonagall's eyes, and Snape's venomous glare which promised retribution if they didn't shut their pie holes.

"These measures have been enacted for your own safety, I can assure you students that I would not enjoy sending the letter to any of your parents that the contents of your body was to be sent home in a match box." the blue eyed man frowned reapprovingly at them.

"Now, students I know that all of you have lessons first thing tomorrow morning. So! Bedtime for the lot of you. Off you go! Chop chop!"

Five seconds later the doors were swarming like bees in a hive with students attempting to get back to their dorm rooms, not to sleep, but to engage in the obsessive gossip which pervaded the school. The Hogwart's rumor mill and gossip chain had a grapevine that could reach every corner of the castle faster than Dudley could inhale a doughnut on Sunday morning.

-Page Break-

Having Draco for a friend was a unique experience that Hadrian was unlikely ever to forget. For example, when all else failed Draco fell back on his old reliable methods; arrogance, nastiness, and that classic line, 'my Father will hear about this!'

His cousin was like a shell, there was the hard exterior her showed the world, and beneath it there was something that people rarely saw. From the way that Draco acted Hadrian knew that most of the other houses thought he was shallower than a kiddie pool.

However it was the attitudes the Slytherins displayed which shocked him. They treated Draco with a fine line of respect and friendship, never letting either skew their views of him. It made Hadrian wonder what Draco had done to earn such loyal housemates.

"You could say that the Slytherin house has its own... ruling system. We call it the Slytherin hierarchy."

A pause.

"It's loosely based on the magical courts just a few hundred years ago. At the top is the ruler with his sector. That would be myself, Zabini, Nott, and Greengrass. Below that we have a lower sector which would be the people of the court, mostly the upperclassmen, fifth, sixth, and seventh years, but some fourth years as well. The rest are considered under our protection, the Slytherin house protects its own, and we make it damn near impossible to isolate any single student."

"You sound like your expecting an attack at any moment." there were notes of disbelief in Hadrian's voice.

Draco's voice was steady, "Last year Higgs and Pucey were attacked by Griffindors and Hufflepuffs on their way back to the Slytherin dorms after Quidditch practise. They had to stay in the hospital wing for an entire week because Madam Pomfrey had to regrow the bones in their legs, and heal the burns which the Reductor curse had caused. Those burns encompassed forty percent of their body, and were something Madam Pomfrey called second degree."

"They were targeted after Black was let into the castle, they thought Pucey and Higgs were responsible, being the Slytherins we are, and decided to make them pay." Draco sneered, his expression cold, "they'd be heros right? Getting the information to capture infamous mass murderer Sirius Black, what would the ministry care that they'd stepped on the toes of a few Slytherins to do it."

Hadrian was silent, green eyes welling in disgust, he felt sick.

"How were they punished?"

His cousin looked at him in disbelief, "Punished, Hadrian? What the teachers did couldn't be called punishment, first McGonagall accused Pucey and Higgs of starting the fight, and that, of course, the Gryffindors were only defending themselves. Something that was completely unfounded by the lack of curses used on the Gryffindors. According to Pucey the Hufflepuffs summoned their wands from behind so they were completely defenseless magically.

Then McGonagall tried to get off saying that the injuries really weren't as bad as we were making them out to be, surely we were exaggerating. I thought Snape was going to crucio her when she said that. In the end they got letters sent home to their parents, about a "minor altercation" between other students, and two weeks detention with Sprout cleaning out the greenhouses."

Draco's stiff voice, stopped, there was pain in his stance, but his older cousin was trying to conceal it from him. A simple name change didn't erase the past three years.

"They tortured two people, nearly killed them, and got two weeks detention for it."

It was a statement, not a question because they both knew the answer had it been a query.

Draco sneered, "What did you expect, Black, McGonagall campaigning for Slytherin rights, perhaps?" there was pain in his eyes. That was when Hadrian understood, this house hierarchy system; they were under Draco's protection.

The other boy had mentioned it before, the younger students being protected by upperclassmen. It only made logical sense for the upper tier, that was Draco, Blaise, Theo, and Daphne to protect them.

Draco thought he'd failed at his job, that he'd neglected his duty to his house. Harry wondered why anyone had left such a large position to fill to a fourth year, why couldn't Pucey or better yet Flint have taken over? It made no sense, Draco wasn't even of Prefect age, he had no control outside his hous-.

Oh. Harry gazed at Draco with a new amount of respect. That was the point, that was why Draco held such a high position. It was all about power struggle, with his cousin holding such a high position inside their house he couldn't be permitted to have even more power through being a Prefect or Head Boy so as long as Draco continued to be, technically, powerless he would gain all the more power inside his own house. No one would know but the Slytherins.

All of them had plausible deniability. Clever, devious, he wanted in.

"Draco, what ever happened to those students who attacked Higgs and Pucey?" there was a dark look on his face, one that didn't promise sunshine and rainbows. His own house had done this, the emerald eyed boy felt disgusted at their actions, ashamed to share the same house with those bastards who had done such a thing to another classmate.

They deserved to pay, Draco had no power outside of the Slytherin house, he was a new player, something of an anomaly, something unknown. Politics had never been his forte but even Hadrian knew; what he was about to do would cause a splash.

-page break-

Going in with the first years had been insulting. The lot of them had been practically quaking with fear for the sorting, shooting him nervous glances as though they were afraid Hadrian was about to curse them.

Had he really been that short just a few years ago? Wow, parents were right we do grow UP fast. Terrible pun. Perhaps he was nervous. He'd done this before, there was nothing to be concerned about, but still there was that pit in the middle of his stomach that said he'd either done something wrong or was about to throw up.

He hoped for neither. This really was just like first year.

McGonagall called each of their names out in turn, some last names Hadrian recognized from the older classmen. His own name came far sooner than last time,

"BLACK, HADRIAN!"

Whispers erupted, everyone was craning their neck to get a good look at him, talking frantically to their friends. This really was exactly like first year. Fine, if they wanted a show that was what he'd give them.

Hadrian threw back his shoulders, a blank expression overtaking his face, remembering the way his own father had behaved when in public. A slight haughty expression, as though the people before him were graced with his mere presence alone, and a graceful stride. Something he hadn't quite mastered yet.

The last thing he saw before the hat slipped over his eyes, was a mixture of Professor McGonagall's disapproving stare, and the rest of the student body practically falling over themselves to get closer. Hadrian sighed, these were his classmates... wonderful.

"Hmmm... you have changed quite a bit haven't you, Mr. Black. I can see it quite clearly now, all those thoughts and worries crowding around in your mind. Tell me something child, are you finally ready to take my original advice? To let me place you where I may? Even if that house is less than favorable?"

Hadrian clutched the edges of his chair, he'd already made his peace with Slytherin, he wasn't afraid of rejection anymore. The hat should be able to see that

"You've grown quite a lot in these past few years, experienced things no child should have to endure. You may believe its made you weaker, Mr. Black, but you'd be incorrect. You've strengthened yourself over the course of these last few years."

Hadrian said nothing for a long moment, "Can I help these people, you said I've gotten stronger, can I help these people? Can you see that?"

The Hat sighed, it was a rasping exhalation which belied the magical objects age.

"I cannot discern the future, Mr. Black. I am but an enchanted object used to display the Founders traits and search them out in the young people of today. I cannot tell you what to do, I'm merely set in place to help you take the best path."

Hadrian sighed, the Hat was right, he shouldn't expect all his problems to be solved by anyone other than himself. That was too much to hope for, he wasn't a child. That left only one thing left; resolve. He'd do this by himself, and he'd do this for himself, if he had to he'd change the world. It sounded like a foolish romantic idea most children had, that when they'd be older they'd move mountains and help people.

For him it was possible. He had the capability to do something, to correct all the terrible things taking place in the wizarding world. And if he had the ability surely he had the responsibility to do it.

An idealist to the very core, Hadrian wasn't naive, he was perfectly capable, and willing to carry out whatever methods it took to reach the end. He was ambitious and goal oriented, Draco would help him, as would the rest of the Slytherin house. Like he'd said before; family first. The hat had been right: Slytherin would help him on his way to greatness.

There was no doubt about that.

Dimly in the background of his mind, Hadrian heard a shout from the Hat, it barely pierced his ears. He'd already known its decision.

"SLYTHERIN!"

-page break-

AN- I am so so sosossososososososooooooooo sorry for the long hiatus! Like above I'll mention the reason: my power has been out for DAYS! I swear we had an insane amount of storms, the first to go was the Wifi and it also happens wifi was the last to be turned back on.

So my profuse apologies, to my lords and ladies I bid you good day and I must thank you fervently for all the reviews! I've broken over 50 do you think I can make it to 75 with this new chapter?

Your friend in time,

*Kasamira


	11. Chapter 11: Professor Gaunt

Disclaimer: Not mine :)

AN- Hello, my lovely lords and ladies! I have a request for each and every one of you. When you review (you all do don't you?) could you leave me a plot bunny request? I've been wanting to write a few one-shots but wasn't sure what to write them about... so I thought-duh! Ask your readers what they want to read!

So without further ado... I present to you...

P.S I've put dividing lines in the chapter, did they show up inbetween scene breaks?

* * *

The Slytherin house certainly was a curiosity. Not in a bad way, but not in a good way either. Like Draco had said earlier, there seemed to be an unspoken, almost invisible hierarchy that ruled the Slytherin House... albeit this was all done under their Head of House: Snape.

And it seemed that Severus Snape enjoyed the power he held over his house, if anything was indicated by the start of term speech he gave the first years... and Hadrian.

"As a member of the Slytherin House, I expect each and every one of you to conduct yourself properly. If you don't know what properly entails, kindly don't bother me with incessant annoying questions, and ask someone next to you. Later! Mr. Higgs, I'm still talking, yes I know it's tedious and boring! Would you like me to take it up with your father, I believe he's in Norfolk right now?" the first year, Higgs, flushed at being called out, and shut his mouth.

"You will not engage in any foolish skirmishes in the corridors, nor will you cause undeserved trouble for your professors. If there is an argument between yourself and one of your peers you will solve it in a timely and discreet fashion."

The rest of Snape's speech generally went along that same thought path, don't embarass Slytherin House (the implied threat should you embarass your house), respect and obey your teachers, don't fight amongst each other, blah blah blah.

Everything was wrapped up neatly in Snape's own particular vitriol, with nice little bow of sarcasm on top. Nothing new. McGonogall's had read them all the same riot speech in first year, and Hadrian would have been perfectly fine to pretend to listen to the best of his ability had Snape not made a point to call him out.

"Mr. Potter." No reaction. "Mr. Potter! MR. POTTER!" Still nothing.

That wasn't his name, and Snape knew that perfectly well, it was part of the reason he and Sirius had decided to re enroll him in Hogwart's; so there would be no reason to accidentally call him 'Mr. Potter'. So there was no reason he should respond to a name that wasn't his own.

"Mr. Potter you will answer me this instant, you impertinent brat!"

Draco, who had remained for the first year orientation, coughed, a certain glittering in his eyes.

Snape's eyes snapped to him, "Is there something you'd like to say, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes, sir. It's just, there are no Mr. Potter's in this room, perhaps you mean Mr. Black?" his tone was dead serious, and faintly apologetic, but Hadrian was more than able to hear the faint mocking tone in his cousins voice.

The Potions Professor looked like he'd swallowed a lemon. Black eyes glittered with fury, not at Draco, but cutting viciously towards Hadrian, hate radiating from his person.

"Yes, Mr. Black, I was not aware of your... name change." Snape was taunting him.

"Well, Professor do you regularly receive the Prophet?" he asked innocently.

"And what," the greasy haired man said, "relevancy does that have to the subject we were discussing?"

Hadrian peered up at the taller man, an expression of completel innocence still plastered on his ivory complexion.

"Well, the new's of my Blood Adoption and subsequent name change was on the front page of the Prophet for the first week it was made public, and if today's Prophet is any judge, has continued to be featured on the following pages."

Snape sneered viciously, "Well, you're certainly up to date about your public appearances, Potter. I bet you love answering the fan mail, do you get your dog of a godfather to help you?"

Hadrian didn't rise to the bait, in fact he didn't show any reaction of even hearing Snape. If the man persisted in calling him Potter and calling his father his godfather then there was simply no adequate response. He didn't even want to think about the degrading insults, if Snape was going to bait him the man would find he'd get nowhere eventually.

"YOU WILL SPEAK WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU, MR. POTTER!" the Potions Master roared.

By now, the supposedly 'private chat' with the incoming firsties had turned into a common room spectacle. They had viewers ranging from the group of terrified firsties up to the calculating eyes of seventh years who wanted to see what was coming.

Finally, a very small voice broke through the dead silence.

"P-Professor...I'm sorry but there is no Harry Potter enrolled at Hogwart's, sir. He was legally Blood Adopted, sir, his name is Hadrian Black, the Daily Prophet said that after being Blood Adopted the new ward has no bi-biological connections to his previous relatives." it was one of the new first years, a girl with black hair, who looked absolutely terrified to be contradicting her new Head of House. Hadrian felt a brief flash of pity for the child, she'd simply been speaking the truth, being completely respectful.

"Thank you Miss. Greengrass, for alerting me to such matters. Do you assume that I am illiterate, and therefore unable to read the pieces of sanctimonious trash that constitutes as wizarding news every morning!"

The girl who had just drawn up her courage to do something no one else in her year had done seemed to shrink several inches down into her seat. It was then, Hadrian decided, Snape had to go. The man simply wouldn't be tolerated with his verbal abuse of children, it was ridiculous it had been allowed to go this far. He'd already dealt with enough abusive people in his life, he didn't need to have close relationship with another; it would have been destructive to both his, and all his classmates wellbeing.

Snape had to go.

And it was with that in mind, Hadrian finally answered his Professor.

"Professor Snape, Aurelia, was simply offering factual knowledge she'd gleaned from what she believed to be a reliable source. She and Draco, are infact, correct. I was adopted by my father, Sirius Black, and thus I am now Hadrian Black. It is not merely my name that has been changed but, like Aurelia said, by biological parents are no longer Lily and James Potter. I am Sirius Black's son."

The new Slytherin really didn't know how to make it any plainer; this was the exact reason he'd been re enrolled in Hogwart's. He didn't want that name clinging to him like a shadow constantly, he was a new person, and should be treated as such.

"Professor, I realize that tonight has been a big event for all of us. All of this has been a large change, to both my classmates perspective of me, and my teachers perspective; you included. However, I was sorted into the Slytherin House, and therefore I deserve every opportunity accredited to any other peer of mine. I was placed in this house for a reason; and wasn't the Sorting Hat saying that this house is for the shrewd and ambitious. Whether you find my position favorable or not sir; I'm here and I do not plan on abandoning my house."

In other words; I'm here whether you like it or not. And by all means if you don't like it, please feel free to take a long walk off a short pier, or an extended picnic lunch break in the Forbidden Forest... on a full moon... at night. Then you'll just be doing my job for me.

Like a famous vampire had once said, "You ask, I come, I'm easy like that." Apparently this did not apply to all vampires, or the veritable bat of the dungeons would have accepted this already.

"I don't recall asking your opinion about ANYTHING, Mr. Black," apparently Snape had a very short memory.

"Well, I apologize for the miscommunication Professor. But I seem to recall your exact words were: you will speak when I am talking to you, so I simply deduced that you weren't posing a rhetorical question and wanted a verbal reply."

Straight faced, no sarcasm, no irony, no humor, on Hadrian's right Draco trembled, hands clenching into the fabric of the armchair. He could practically read his cousins thoughts on the whole situation, "Must. Not. LAUGH." It looked painful.

"Ten points from-" black eyes widened, and then Snape abruptely cut himself off, the Slytherins in the common room could practically hear the man gritting his yellow teeth, when their Potions Professor realized he had been about to take points away from his own house.

Needless to say the evening hadn't gone well, after the points and last name incident the Potions Professor hadn't exactly taken it upon himself to look at Hadrian with a new and fresh perspective.

* * *

The next day Hadrian was unable to escape the whispers.

They followed him in the halls, the common room, the classroom, the bathroom. Each whisper passed around another rumor, each (just like during the Sorting Ceremony) more ridiculous than the next.

Draco had happily told him that Ernie MacMillan was filling the Hufflepuffs ears with "facts" about Hadrian's Blood Adoption, his dark connections, and his supposed Communist affiliations. The last part had confused the young pureblood greatly, however Hadrian had found it extremely amusing, as Ernie was a pureblood and likely had no idea on earth what he was spouting to his housemates.

In addition Hadrian had sent his first letter of the year to his father. It had contained quite a lot of information; his house assignment, some things the sorting hat had said, his new friendship with Draco, the fate of his previous friends. And finally he'd asked for one thing; information on the two Slytherins who had been attacked.

Draco had been a large help the night before, supplying his new cousin with a variety of details concerning the students, but had been puzzled as to why Hadrian had been so interested. Puzzled, until the other recognized the menacing glint in Hadrian's eyes.

"You mean to curse them, don't you. The people that attacked them."

"And what would you say to me if those were my intentions, Draco." Hadrian questioned swiftly, not committing to anything.

"I'd say you'll want my help navigating through all the proper channels." the blonde smirked, "it simply wouldn't do to commit a faux pas, and thus lack the support of the Slytherin House." then his expression turned serious, "but Hadrian, if we mean to do this, and to do this properly, there can't be any room for mistakes."

HIs cousin looked him up and down, a teasing smile on his thin lips, "You still have your Gryffindor pride after all, and serious matters such as these must be handled with a certain... Slytherin amount of care... and cunning. We wouldn't want a Gryffindor to muck it up."

And although Draco's eyes were teasing, Hadrian was clearly able to see the warning in them, that warning said, "Are you sure you want to get involved in this?"

He had only one response, "Sirius is back in Moscow you dolt, besides, if you ask me I"m the perfect combination. I've got all the courage of a Gryffindor but all the self preservation and lack of regard for the rules any Slytherin worth their stones has."

Draco, his cousin, looked at him, "We protect our own."

It was cheesy, as the muggles would say, utterly corny, but Hadrian couldn't deny the feeling of rightness when he answered.

"Family first." These Slytherins who'd been attacked were his family, his housemates, and as Draco had said, 'family protected their own.'

* * *

Professor Gaunt was... different. But different in a very, very, VERY good way. Quirrel had been a bumbling idiot who ranted on about vampires (and had the parasitic form of Lord Voldemort on the back of his head), and Lockhart and been a self infatuated git with a fetish for pixies.

On the other hand their new DADA professor was (he hated to say it)... cool, and that was something the girls in his year were taking a bit too far. As was evident in the way Daphne Greengrass had been sighing all over the man within the first three minutes of class. Hadrian and Draco had both rolled their eyes in unison after hearing Daphne and Pansy start wondering whether he had a girlfriend... because teachers who were probably at least a decade older would normally privy their fourteen year old students to such information. That would have been totally normal.

The very first day of class the teachers had decided to cram the Gryffindors and Slytherins together in a single DADA classroom and let them duke it out. At least that seemed to be Professor Gaunt's take on things.

The man had entered the classroom like a wraith, barely making a sound, had the door not slammed shut behind him Hadrian never would have noticed anyone had entered at all. It was strange, not hearing the slithering of robes over stone floors as the slim man made his way to the head of the classroom, the green eyed teen wondered if it was a charm that had been woven into the robes fabric.

Introductions were elegant but brief.

"I am Professor Gaunt, no doubt all of you were able to clearly view me at the Head Table last night so for your sake I will keep the introductions brief. I'm your new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, and throughout the course of the year I will be teaching you to the best of my abilities. Now, over the years it has come to my attention that the previous instructors of this class have been somewhat... lacking." a small sneer curled around the man's lips.

"It will provide you all with some comfort that my classes will neither be lacking in theory or practical usage of any of the lessons I deem fitting to teach you. If every single one of you does their utmost to do their best in my class, things should run smoothly... if not..." Professor Gaunt let the silence do all the talking for him. Hadrian caught several Gryffindors gulping nervously, and a few Slytherins looking away from the man who now seemed a bit more formidable.

"But, I realize that for me to have a good relationship with you communication and dedication must be two way street, I must give to get, therefore I believe the most endeavors way to do such a thing would be an exchange of trust. Communication if you will." the blue eyed man paused, looking at them expectantly.

No one seemed to get it.

Draco hesitantly raised his hand, "Sir, do you mean to say we can ask you... anything?" Hadrian could practically see the devious little devils clanking away in his cousins mind.

Gaunt seemed amused, "Anything within reason, Mr. Malfoy."

Instantly sixteen hands shot in the air, nine tenths of the Gryffindor girls, and about three fourths of the Slytherin girls. Lavender Brown, of Gryffindor was the first to be honored with information.

"How old are you?"

Professor Gaunt seemed heavily amused by this question.

"Physically I am twenty-eight, Miss. Brown. Yes, Miss Patil?"

Clearly Parvati had been sorted incorrectly, based on the subtle nature of her question that any logically thinking and tactful fourteen year old would be curious about.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"I'm currently unattached."

"Why didn't the Headmaster introduce you last night?"

"Well Miss Greengrass, Hogwart's school has gone through so many Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers the Headmaster felt that it would be obvious a new one would be in order this year."

"Are you planning on killing any of us this year?"

That got a lot of weird looks, a few cat eyed glares from almost all the girls, Draco could have sworn two of them hissed.

"You can be assured, Mr. Malfoy, your life is safe in this classroom,"

"And what of outside the classroom, Professor?" it was Hadrian this time, surveying the new teacher with renewed wariness, detecting a worrying double meaning in his words.

Professor Gaunt caught his eye for the first time, and Hadrian could have sworn he saw a flash of... something in them.

"Mr. Black, I don't recall you raising your hand. However I can assure you that your safety is one of the things I strive to protect. None of you will come to any harm while I am your teacher here."

And looking the man in the eyes, Hadrian Black believed him.

"Now, that we've ended our questions," Gaunt gave the girls a looked that calmed their outraged ones, "on such a cheery note, perhaps it's time to begin our lesson. Put your books away, class. Today is going to be a bit more... practical-don't worry no tests, yet."

Directing them, Gaunt put the Gryffindors on the right side of the classroom and the Slytherins on the left, before stationing himself in the middle.

"Through your last teachers notes I was able to discern you spent most of last year on magical creatures; this year will be different. Instead of focusing on magical beings we will be leaning more towards defensive magic." here Gaunt paused, waiting to make sure he had all of their attention.

"The Dark Arts, is a branch of magic that is considered illegal by the Ministry of Magic. However to continue in this class you all must understand that no matter how regulated the Dark Arts are, they continue to evolve and change just like all other varieties of magic.

And I'm afraid an apt description of them can only be found through anecdotes. For Muggle born students it would be best to visualize a pathogen, a virus of sorts, that is continually mutating and altering itself to escape any attempts that are waged against it. For those of the more... Pureblooded variety, the best comparison is a hydra, a many headed monster that grows back a head twice as vicious as the one removed.

You could also refer to it as Ouroboros, often shown in the form of a snake biting its own tail, to symbolize eternal return or an organism recreating itself and each time returning better than the time before."

Hadrian was captivated, the golden locket pressed against his chest seemed to pulse slightly against his skin, his breath came a little faster. The rest of the Slytherins were just as entranced, Draco had lost all wariness of Gaunt and was gazing at the man like the professor was water and Draco was a man dying of thirst.

All of them had expected another incompetent idiot, none of them had thought someone like Gaunt teaching them was a possibility. The Gryffindors reactions varied, Granger in particular looked interested, leaning forward a bit, she'd never heard another teacher mention something pertaining to Muggles in any class other than Muggle Studies. Weasley was a whole nother story, staring furiously between the new DADA professor and Hermione a kindling of jealousy in his eyes.

Draco almost snorted when he saw it. Only Weasley would be jealous of his Professor, especially considering Granger was the object of his affections.

"The reason I've called you all out of your seats is for a practical demonstration." the new teacher gestured with his wand, and instantly all the desks backed themselves up against the surrounding walls, giving plenty of stretch room. With another flick of his wand Gaunt had a dummy appear before them.

"This is a flesh and blood dummy, any spell I cast on it will cause results identical to those if I had cast said spell on a human."

Turning to the dummy Gaunt, levitated it easily, gently floating the contraption up a few feet in the air, before returning it to the ground. Paused. And did the sam-no the man did a similar spell, sending the dummy up four or five feet then bringing it down again. The only difference had been a slightly different wand movement, still no incantation.

"Now, which spell was a dark arts spell?"

Dead silence.

"Miss Granger."

"I'm not sure I understand sir, both spells you used were harmless, how could either have been a dark arts spell?"

Hadrian could HEAR Draco rollings his eyes, and could FEEL him thinking scornfully, "Mudbloods."

"You are, of course, Miss Granger harboring under the illusion that all Dark Spells ever created are to be solely used for harmful purposes."

Hermione made sort of a sputtering noise.

"Yes, Miss Granger, you like your peers have been under the illusion that the Dark Arts are inherently evil. Tell me, in the Muggle world can you own a knife?"

Hermione looked bewildered, but managed to cough out a, "Yes, of course."

"Well, then I suppose that owning a knife means that you're going to stab someone with it, does it not?" The man paused looking at the bushy haired girl expectantly.

"Of course not!"

"Well then, Miss Granger if a potentially dangerous weapon can be left in the hands of a Muggle why can the same not be left to a wizard."

If anything Hermione was even more embarrassed, Gaunt take some amount of sadistic pleasure from it.

Daphne Greengrass seemed to take pity on her (after a long drawn out pause, that Gaunt seemed perfectly comfortable to let go on), or Daphne just wanted to keep listening to Gaunt speak (she had been going on about his voice during the man's introduction).

"The first one, Professor."

"Correct, Miss Greengrass. Do you care to share with your classmates how you deduced such a thing," the black haired professor, looked approvingly at her.

"You employed the customary swish and flick motions used primarily with the Levitating Spell, I was able to recognize it from Charms class. And the second spell you used had an unfamiliar wand movement associated with it so I figured that would be the Dark Spell."

"Indeed Miss Greengrass, your skills of deduction, in comparison to... certain classmates, are spot on."

"You see, the reason, class for the second spell to be a dark arts spell, and therefore, outlawed by the Ministry," he performed the spell again, sending the flesh and blood dummy flying towards the ceiling, and spinning it like a top, "is that someone, did this, to a number of various Wizarding children, before..."

Gaunt dropped it. The flesh and blood dummy. It fell from over twenty feet high, and hit the stone floor with a sickening crunch of bone.

"Then the man did it again..." the dummy bounced like a Muggle basketball, nearly hitting the top of the ceiling before slamming with another awful crunch onto the floor.

"and again, and again," ceiling... floor...ceiling...floor, "until that was all that was left."

A crumbled, broken mass of flesh and blood laid on the floor.

Neville puked. Now with each inhalation the fourth year DADA class was privy to the smells and sights of Neville's breakfast, only partially digested.

Professor Gaunt gazed steadily at each and every one of them.

"That, is why the spell was outlawed by the Ministry, because a single man took it upon himself to use what was previously a more powerful version of the Levitation Charm and commonly learned in second year, into a murderous weapon against the young and helpless."

"While the Levitation Spell certainly has many uses, I would like you to think on this; had the Ministry not outlawed it, how could you have used this spell defensively. This year there will be many changes coming to your lives: the Triwizard Tournament will take the primary role despite your inability to enter, however that does not mean that a single one of you has the leeway to be ill informed when defending yourself.

Only fifteen years ago there was a war tearing down each of your parents front doors, by all counts the Light was at the disadvantage, being both unable by the Ministry and unwilling to use dark magic to defend themselves."

The bell rang. Without noticing it, they'd spent an entire period listening to Gaunt lecture, it hadn't been boring at all. As they were making their way towards the door, the desks flew (magically) back into position, and Gaunt said calmly,

"I expect fourteen inches on other Dark Arts spells which are able to be used defensively, or in non harmful ways by Wednesday."

* * *

Care of Magical Creatures was next. After collecting Bubotubers pus (which was great for ridding students of acne) in Herbology with Professor Sprout, and listening to her go on about poor Eloise Midgen, who'd attempted to curse her pimples off. Apparently her nose had never been the same.

"Which goes to show you," Sprout had gasped, viciously squeezing the pus out a particularly large bubotuber, "why, you shouldn't... resort to such desperate measures to change your physical appearance." the sickening smell of petrol filled Greenhouse Number 3, and Sprout managed to wipe the dirt from the back of her hand onto the dirt covering her forehead.

It would be CoMC with the Gryffindors again, Hadrian mused, as he came to stand behind Draco down by Hagrid's wooden cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid was outside his hut, with Fang, and at his feet were a variety of open wooden crates that appeared to be making an odd rattling noise... and several mini explosions... like firecrackers.

Hadrian glanced at Blaise, the taller boy shot him a quizzled look, and his own was just as bewildered.

"Mornin' all!" Hagrid shouted, "Come on you lot! Won' want to miss this- Blast-Ended Skrewts!"

Ronald, standing about ten feet to Hadrian's left said, "Come again?"

Lavender screamed, leaping away from the contents of the crates like someone had lit her on fire.

Hadrian himself had a similar feeling of revulsion. The "Blast Ended Skrewts" looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters, awfully pale and slimy looking, covered in a film of white muck that seemed to permeate from their bodies. They filled the crates, about a hundred of them, and were giving off the smell of rotting fish. Hadrian was reminded of St. Nick's Death Day Party in second year and the "food" the ghosts had had to eat.

Every now and then a series of sparks would fly out of the skrewt, knocking into the sides of the boxes, and sending the... things... forward a few inches.

"On'y jus' hatched," Hagrid said proudly, "so yeh'll be able ter aise 'em yerselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!"

Exchanging glances with Blaise and Draco he saw identical expressions of horror in their eyes.

"And why," Draco drawled, "would we WANT to raise them?" the rest of the Slytherins and half the Gryffindors seemed to fervently second his question.

Hagrid looked bewildered, as though he didn't understand what Draco was asking.

Blaise interjected, "What is their purpose, how are we meant to raise them, as far as I know there are no Blast Ended Skrewt care manual in our CoMC text book." his tone was half mocking half bewildered.

Hagrid opened his mouth, paused for a few seconds and then spoke roughly, as though he hadn't expected so much distrust in his creature decision.

"Tha's next lesson, Malfoy, Zabini. Yer jus' feedin' them for today, thas it. Now cause I've never had 'em before I wan you to try a few things. I got ant eggs an' frog livers and some grass snake, I wan you all to give em a bit of each to find out wha' they like."

Even the Gryffindors seemed outraged.

"First pus and now this," Seamus Finnegan muttered furiously.

Hadrian said nothing, neither moving toward the crates or moving away from them. Hagrid had been a friend to him the past three years, but this... this was too much. Dragons, Acromantulas, and now this?! Some things were just too much, he'd almost gotten expelled because of the man's carelessness.

And now they were taking care of hybrids that not only weren't in their book but were also something their teacher had never encountered before, never knew existed, and didn't know how to properly take care of. Hagrid didn't even know what they ate for crying out loud!

After observing them for a moment the green eyed teen noticed that the things didn't even appear to have mouths.

"OUCH!" shouted Dean Thomas, "It exploded!" there was a large burn on his hand.

"Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off," Hagrid said, as if this was all very expected.

Lavender Brown spoke up from behind Hadrian, "Hagrid! What's that... that pointy thing at the end on it?" her voice sounded faintly fearful.

"Ah, some of 'em have got stings," Hagrid said enthusiastically, as if having stings was a positive trait, and looking hurt when Lavender jerked her hand back from the crate.

"I reckon they're the males... the females've got sota sucker things on their bellies... I think they might be ter suck blood."

Draco was unable to control himself, and Hadrian nearly followed in suit.

"Well, Professor, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive, because, after all who wouldn't want a pet that can burn sting and bite all at once?"

Hermione shot Hadrian a reproachful look, as if it was his responsability to moniter what Draco said.

"Just because they're not very pretty, doesn't mean their not useful. Dragon blood's useful, and powerful but I bet you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet."

Draco looked disbelievingly at her, "Well Granger, apparently you've missed my name," the 'among other things' was left unsaid, "DRACO, I guess in the muggle world people such as yourself don't learn about the finer things in life. Languages being one of the many, I'll give you a hint; Draco... dragon. It's even in our school motto." the boy seemed apt to continue in his mini diva rant if his cousin hadn't stepped in.

"And just how are the skrewts useful Hermione, the Bubotubers were useful because they gave off pus. So unless you want to squeeze the slime from their bodies and market that, how exactly is your hypothesis that the skrewts are useful accurate?"

Hermione looked shocked, horrified that Hadrian would ever contradict her. And after a moment it appeared she wasn't going to respond, until Hagrid stepped in.

"Harry, now don go bein mean to Hermione,"

Hadrian experienced contradictory feelings, on one hand he liked Hagrid, the man had helped him through some difficult times in his life, and on the other; Hagrid was wrong. These things were dangerous, even Granger saw that, it was only her loyalty that prevented her from saying anything.

"Hagrid, the skrewts are small now, but what happens when they get bigger? How big do they even grow? What happens when they start attacking us and it's not just by accident that we get stung? Things grow bigger in the wizarding world, what happens when they're six feet long, bigger than us, and we can't control them? There are over a hundred here, far too much for just a single person, these things could seriously injure someone."

He was being honest, what happened when Hagrid found out what they eat, the man was insane about monstrous creatures, he'd never be able to let go. The skrewts would turn on the class first and then him, Hadrian had seen enough muggle documentaries on wild animals to know what would happen next.

An hour later he discussed such things with Draco and Blaise on the way back up to the castle, asking if they were at all disturbed by it.

Blaise shook his head in disbelief, "Hadrian, Blast Ended Skrewts aren't even a known species. There's now way they could be! The Ministry issues warnings on dangerous animals every month to the wizarding public. Back there is a violation of the Ban on Experimental Breeding, Hagrid could-no he would be fired and sent to Azkaban for simply breeding them."

"The fact that he's introduced them to children makes it much worse." Draco finished.

Hadrian shook his head, and continued in a whisper, "Did you see them! They look like bloody manticores and fire crabs!" he swallowed thickly, "guys... manticores get to be the size of a lion, and fire crabs are supposed to be as big as sea water turtles. A competent wizard might be able to deal with a fire crab without being burned... but manticores it takes half a dozen to take one down safely."

"And their known for being resistant to magic and having violent and dangerous tendencies. Their sting causes instant death and is reported to speak to its victims before... devouring them" Draco finished dryly.

"Wonderful. Not only are these things PARENTS extremely resistant to magic, but their sting kills people, they grow to be over fifteen feet long, and have a nasty habit of being sentient enough to enjoy killing. No wonder there was such a rush to get them for CoMC this year." Blaise summed everything up quite nicely.

Hadrian groaned, rubbed his eyes, and absently jumped over the trip step on the stairs, when he looked up again Ronald and Hermione stood in his way, with an awkward nervous looking Neville in the backround.

"Can I help you with something, Weasley, Granger." Neville obviously didn't wish to here so why acknowledge the poor boy's presence.

"We need to talk to you." Hermione said swiftly.

He known a confrontation was coming, but hadn't expected it to happen so soon, it was the first day of classes, and they wanted to reconcile barely twenty-four hours after he'd learned of their betrayal. They also had the inopportune moment of catching him in a bad mood, Hadrian was tired, he'd just had a class from hell that only appeared to have chances of getting worse. Now they wanted to make things worse prematurely. Perfect. His day was already screwed, why not make it screwed to hell?

"So talk, it's a free country. But don't count on me promising to listen."

Ronald's hand curled into a fist, "Alone." he managed to get out.

Hadrian shook his head, "Whatever you wish to say, you can say it in front of them," he nodded towards Draco and Blaise.

Hermione took over, "Harry please, we've apologized, we're sorry. We should have done something we shouldn't have... shouldn't have-" she cut off.

He waited.

"Shouldn't have what Hermione, shouldn't have left me alone when I needed you the most? Shouldn't have taken it upon yourselves to tell me to run back home to my abusive family year... after... year, when you knew what they did? When I told you everything?"

Ron exploded, "Don't talk to her like that, you snake! We apologized! We said we were sorry! What the bloody hell more do you want!?"

Hadrian's eyes grew stormy, taking a step in closer to Ronald, black robes rustling across the dark stone floor.

"What more do I want, Ronald? Let me think, how about a pair of friends who give more than two knuts about their supposed friends life! His health! His wellbeing! His state of mind in the hands of three bigoted overweight magic hating muggles!" he drew back from a furious whisper to a more neutral tone, the rage was still there, but cooling, not fast enough though. He still wanted to reach down Ron's throat and pull out whatever his hand came in contact with first, and then curse him beyond recognition.

"If it's something I would have given you without a thought, perhaps you should have given more than a fleeting thought to return the sentiment."

With that, he left. A shocked Draco and Blaise following behind him, Hadrian noticed the Trip Jinx Blaise threw at both of them, something that should have had them sliding into walls for the rest of the day. Draco was giving them a bit more of a calculated sneer, something that promised retribution. Retribution of the most painful variety.

Hey, you never knew, some of those spells Professor Gaunt was demonstrating in class might get more practical attention than he'd anticipated.

* * *

AN- Hello! One and all to this marvelous chapter (not that I'm vain or anything!) But I would like to bequeth my most sincere thanks to all of you for your continued reviews and PM's I really enjoy every single one. And a special thanks goes out to the following people who reviewed my last chapter: Nicol, Kairan1979, Yume, Le Diablo Blanc2, tryagain4me, PuppyProngs, serialkeller, Melikalilly, and Technokitty818 for making my day and REVIEWING!

Much love,

To all my friends in time,

*Kasamira


	12. Chapter 12: Bonding

AN- Hello to all my wonderful lords and ladies! It is with much pleasure that I wish to bestow upon you (drum roll please!) the next installment of the A Better Life fanfic. And I would like to extend my most fervant thanks to each and every one of my viewers, reviewers (that rhymed! I'm not WEIRD :), followers, people who have added me to their community, and people who have liked me. I am most in all of your debt :) Without further ado, I present to you my lovelies:

P.S. I'm sorry about any typos, it's midnight for me and I'm rush typing on a laptop that I "stole" from relatives

* * *

Bonding:

"We need to talk, Marvolo."

It was after dinner, and Hadrian was alone now, hidden behind the curtains of his bed, and away from prying eyes (especially after casting several useful wards Marvolo had taught him).

The portrait raised a single eyebrow in question, "What about Hadrian?"

Trust was a difficult thing, on one hand he did trust Marvolo and this was partially because the man was a potrait, and not a flesh and body wizard. The man couldn't betray him. However, Hadrian wasn't a fool. Marvolo may have appeared to be a portrait but it was obvious he was a more powerful magical object, unbidden Mr. Weasley's words came back to him from years ago. Words which had basically amounted to; don't mess with things that talk back.

"Do you have any close living relatives?"

Marvolo looked surprised, "No, none that I know of. Why do you ask?"

Hadrian looked consternatingly at him, "Our new DADA Professor's name is Gaunt."

True surprise flashed across the portrait's pale face, then relief, an emotion that startled him.

"Hadrian, I've been in this locket for over fourteen years it's quite possible that neither I nor my true self met this man."

Defensive; hiding something.

"Gaunt isn't a very popular name, Marvolo." he didn't mention that the man claimed to be from America.

The blue eyed man appeared frustrated, "Hadrian, the official mainstreaming Gaunt line was eliminated during the mid fourteenth century, it's possible that a branch of the remaning Gaunt line migrated to another country while my own stayed here. However during the fourteenth century there was a large uprising of plague, which would explain my lack of knowledge if the records were lost or destroyed. A family didn't keep many records after going underground if they wanted to last long"

The new Slytherin wasn't mollified, a history lesson wasn't going to change his mind. He woudln't begrudge Marvolo a few secrets, Merlin knew he had them; he let the subject drop. And apparently Marvolo could tell from his expression, judging by the playful look crossing the portrait's eyes.

"So Hadrian, you failed to converse with me last night... should I take it that you were resorted into Gryffindor

He snorted, "Don't be an idiot, Marvolo!" reaching around his neck, Hadrian pulled out the Slytherin tie from inside his robes.

"I never expected anything less." the portrait sniffed. Really, the man could give Slytherins lessons in arrogance.

"So how was the new DADA teacher?"

Changing the subject were we.

Hadrian decided to be honest.

"He's brilliant, Marvolo! A single lesson with Gaunt and I've already learned more than both first and second year put together. Really knowing him would have been a credit to you." a teasing grin slipped out, letting his companion the subject wasn't over.

"What was Slytherin like in your time?"

A wistful expression crossed the others face; as if he were remembering fond times.

"Much the same as it would be for you, Hadrian. There was Quidditch, study groups, Hogesmade-"

He cut the other off, "No! You know that's not what I meant. What was Slytherin like for you, Marvolo? Who were your friends? What did you do for fun? What was your favorite subject? Did Slytherin still have a hierarchy, way back when?"

When the blue eyed man's eyes glinted in amusement, he realized he'd been played. Apparently being a Black didn't automatically guarentee radar detection against manipulation.

"Well, if you wish to be so blunt, Hadrian, I'll certainly entertain your whims. However, I must warn you; I did not have friends. I had allies; aquaintances. People who were useful to me. As for fun; I most cetainly did not participate in any of the ritual activites that most of my peers indulged in. Knowledge, Hadrian, was my source of amusement. And knowledge is the greatest power any person could ever dine to enjoy."

He hadn't asked for a philosophy lesson, nor for a lecture. But this what he loved about Marvolo; the treasure trove of information the man contained. Listening to the other talk was something, Hadrian could have done for hours.

"As for my studies... the ones that captured my interest the most were not in the school curriculim." the blue eyes were filled with fond memories.

Hadrian smiled, "You were more for... creative extracurricular expression then. And involved in a few... ah- more stimulating pursuits for knowledge, something darker perhaps."

His friend was surprised.

"Why my dear, Hadrian! You've been holding out on me, since when have you been... encouraging of such pusuits?"

The emerald eyed boy gazed steadily at the locket.

"Our view points tend to change over the course of our lives, Marvolo. The last time I answered a question like that was in my first year. I was a naive Gryffindor with idealistic aspirations that good and evil could be split into two categories of black and white. One for Light wizards and another for Dark."

Marvolo looked at him perceptively. "You find it compelling don't you. The darkness. I bet you can practically taste it on your tongue, every time you're near it." the man's voice lowered, "it's addictive."

This was another reason he adored the locket. He could be honest, honest without fears of judgement, honest with the fear of ridicule. Hadrian wondered if he should feel ashamed that Marvolo was right.

"Is that wrong?" with Marvolo obviously being a dark supporter Hadrian knew he was probably the wrong person to ask.

The other wizard looked at him.

"Many people have different views of right and wrong, Hadrian, I'm not here to force you to accept my own. It's you who should decide for yourself."

It was a pretty speech. And one Hadrian didn't believe for a minute, Marvolo was manipulative snake who wouldn't hesitate to push his views on anyone; the man was bolder than a Gryffindor and about a hundred times as cunning. He put it to use too, with non committal sentences, and persuading encouragement that all tried to convince Hadrian he was completely in control.

If the other man wanted to convince Hadrian that he had all the control then the Slytherin would act on it.

"Marvolo, were you a Death Eater?"

If the fourteen year old had expected a gasp of shock, and an immediate denial he would have been disappointed. Marvolo didn't fall short.

"A Death Eater, Hadrian. Do you truly believe me to have been something so... common?" the words were dripping with disdain, and he could practically hear the sneer in the other's voice.

"No one could ever accuse you of being something so typical as common, Marvolo... even in your current position."

Hadrian smirked at the sour look the portrait graced him with.

"Sooo now that you've gotten me off topic and complimenting you, what was your position in regards to the Dark Lord?"

"Why Hadrian, if you were curious about my activities with the Dark Lord you should have mentioned so earlier. However I was unaware that you were interested in such... pursuits." Marvolo shot him a lascivious grin.

Hadrian felt an involuntary flush creep across his cheeks, and knew the other was laughing at him (and trying to distract/embarrass him with lewd implications). The man was a jerk.

"So talk, then." Called him out.

Marvolo seemed to straighten, expression losing its playful exterior, and turning a steady gaze toward his companion; assessing him, curious to see if he was serious. Whatever the man saw must have convinced him of something.

"The Dark Lord was my peer, a fellow Slytherin in my own year-"

"What was his name?" he had to be sure Marvolo was speaking the truth.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle."

The man didn't hide their similarities, he seemed proud of it. Hadrian would have been suspicious had he not.

"What was he like?" the sheer need to know, to understand was overwhelming

"Tom Riddle was a person ahead of his time, a person who was both an idealist and a pessimist to his core. A person who firmly believed in the shortcomings and failings of others, while at the same time refusing to allow himself any leeway to succumb to lesser wizards faults. A prodigy, his professors exclaimed, would likely one day make Minister for Magic, but would, they all agreed, amount to great things." The portraits lips twitched, like he was sharing some sort of inside joke.

Hadrian was, for his part; enraptured. He felt as though he'd just been given exclusive forbidden information that none had been privy to for over fifty years. Marvolo was a treasure trove of knowledge previously denied to him.

"How was he an idealist?"

"Surely, Hadrian you've noticed the differences between the muggle and magical worlds." it wasn't really a question, more of a reproach.

"Then, you can imagine what it was like in my own time, born into what the Muggles call; the Roaring Twenties, filled with women's rights movements, Flappers, speakeasies, jazz, and the foxtrot. We were modern; progressive. Making a transition from that world into the wizarding one was a culture shock, however living where Tom did, I can imagine that the change was a welcome one. I myself was unfortunate to live in a variety of Muggle towns over the years." here Marvolo paused slightly, and Hadrian rushed to fill in the gap, not wanting the the slow trickle of information to stop flowing.

"What do you mean 'where Tom lived?'"

"Hadrian, Tom lived in an orphanage from the time when he was born until his seventeenth birthday." a flicker of undisguised shock flitted across his face, morphing into a string of empathy.

"I didn't know that there were magical orphanages."

The portrait looked at him with frustration and a tinge of anger, like Hadrian was missing something very obvious.

"Hadrian, there are no magical orphanages. Tom lived in a muggle orphanage for the first seventeen years of his life. In that time most of the orphanages were run at least partially by the Catholic Church in England, and this was no exception." Marvolo looked at him, ocean deep blue eyes staring at him with some undiscipherable emotion.

"Imagine what that would be like fo a wizard, living in a place which had actively waged a war against your existence just a few hundred years ago. What do you think those caretakers did to a magical child that was unable to control his own power, a child that was no more than five or six years old when he first started displaying accidental magic? Do you think they were kind? Showd him understanding in the face of bias and bigotry?" It might have been a rhetorical question, one that was suposed to bely the true weight of the statement without a response tarnishing its impact.

Hadrian ignored it.

"And I assume he told you this?"

Marvolo looked at him, calm in the face of suspicioin.

"Though you may be surprised by this, Hadrian, the Dark Lord did have a family. You may have noticed that we share a name in common; Marvolo, you could say that I'm his closest living relation."

He felt bad, abruptely, with the wariness and suspicion he had treated Marvolo to. It wasn't fair to him or to... Tom. At the time the portrait was speaking of Tom had been a child. A child his age or younger, who had been sentanced to a fate that might have been worse than his own at the Dursley's. He wasn't going to judge an abused child, what that child turned into was a different matter.

"What were you to him... Voldemort? You said you weren't a common Death Eater, were you part of the Inner Circle?"

Voldemort's relative smiled, "An Inner Circle member, yes." Marvolo seemed to regain his tight lipped state.

A rush of exasperation filled him.

"What did he believe in?! What were his goals?! Why did he try to destroy the wizarding world and committ genocide?!"

"You think it was genocide, Hadrian? That the Dark Lord was trying to destroy the one thing that had given him hope as a child?

How did you view the magical world when you were eleven? It was brilliant and amazing, without fault and filled with wonders you could never have imagined existed. That's changed, now hasn't it. You've been sullied by the taint this world leaves in its wake.

Their court system is a joke, there are no lawyers, no law wizards, people can be sentanced to life in prison without a trial. Just an accusation can ruin an entire families life if the right person does it.

Their education system is deteriorating, crumbling and coming apart at the seams. Did you know that they know before Hogwarts there is no primary education available to the public that is sponsored by the Ministry.

Reading, writing, basic arithmetic is left up to the parents because, after all, that's all a magical child needs to get through life, just a basic knowlege of the worlds workings and their off to Hogwarts.

There is no physics, no chemistry, no geometry, or algebra, no creative expression such as art or compositon classes, no english classes, or history other than the crock the students receive from Binns at school.

There is no higher education either, no colleges or universities. The only way any person can receive more education is to become an apprentice, unfortunately it is a long process that is restrictive not only to the student but to the teacher as well, and because of the difficulty in both getting an apprenticeship and the restrictions the application numbers have been going down throughout the centuries.

It is ineventible, but all new discoveries may come to a stuttering halt. And if you compare the shattering halt that new discoveries are at in the magical world the muggle world would seem like a land overflowing with curiosity and the NEED to know EVERYTHING.

The muggles have just gotten out of the Industrial Revolution and have entered the a new Scientific Age of Enlightenment. Muggles have flown us by in ALL areas of new age discoveries; we might as well be back in the middle ages."

here Marvolo smirked, "have you seen the way we dress? Sure it might be elegant, but for practical usage it's a bloody nightmare."

Despite the smirks there had been true sincerity in Marvolo's voice, and the confidence of someone who had put a lot of effort and thought into his observations. The man wasn't one who made mistakes.

"You're saying that Voldemort wanted to save the wizarding world, not to destroy it?"

* * *

Draco was his cousin, his housemate, a boy who was becoming his best friend.

Draco was also a boy who could be a genuinely good person... when the boy wasn't tempting Hadrian to end the his life. Or when he made a particularly douchey comment.

"So... Hadrian, when did you realize that you prefered the snake pit over the lions den." Cheesy metaphors, what else did he have to look forward to?

"Well, Draco that realization might have come to me around the same time Granger nearly socked in your face."

Beside him Blaise and Theo snorted in laughter, and Daphne covered a snigger behind her hand, completely unapologetic at Draco's betrayed stare.

"That wretched woman nearly killed me, Hadrian!"

"That one hundred and ten pound Gryffindor girl whose a head and a half shorter nearly took you out of commission!" Daphne was nearly on the floor, clutching a stitch at her side, gasping for breath while Blaise and Theo roared with laughter.

The Malfoy heir sniffed, "I'm a Pureblood, we don't hit women; besides I'd never resort to such lowly common Muggle tactics. Really, Hadrian! Brawling on Hogwarts grounds I'm surprised the mudblood wasn't expelled." Neither of his fellow housemates could decipher whether the blonde had meant common or muggle as the worst insult.

"Draco, you're such a snob."

"He grew up around peacocks, Hadrian, he can't help it." Blaise interjected swiftly, a teasing gleam in his dark eyes.

His cousin made an indignant sound in the back of his throat.

"Blaise! I ought to have you whipped for disrespecting your betters!"

Hadrian looked at the others curiously, "Can he do that?"

Daphne snickered, "Yeah, but relax, Adrian a Healing Potion later and you're better than you were before."

"Adrian?" said the boy in question.

Greengrass shrugged, absently twirling a piece of pretty blonde hair, Hadrian felt a slight flush creep up his cheeks, glancing in between her fair hair and light blue eyes.

"Hadrian's such a long name," the girl whined, "Do you oppose the change? Because I can come up with something else you know-"

Theo rolled his eyes, "I'd stick with Adrian, it's only a one letter change, hardly a nickname at all."

Daphne turned devious eyes on Theodore Nott, "Are you trying to make him jealous, Dora?"

The "Dora" in question merely looked innocently back, "Not at all Queenie." and enjoying the shrieks of rage that followed.

* * *

It was a week until Halloween when the two visiting schools were scheduled to arrive when Dumbledore called Hadrian up to his office.

Snape had handed him the letter, looking enraged (and taking the anger out on his student) to be considered a messenger.

"And what is the password, sir?"

"What Black?!" the Potions Master practically hissed.

"The password to Dumbledore's office, I don't much fancy standing there and having a go at guessing my way through every candy known to mankind; muggle and wizard."

It appeared Snape was having difficulty forming words, or breathing for that matter, the man was panting like a horse and nearly foaming at the mouth. Hadrian considered asking the man if he'd had his obvious medical conditions checked out by a Healer. Really it would do him no good if the greasy man dropped dead of asphyxiation with him bearing witness. People would think he'd killed him! That certainly didn't help a person's reputation.

"Acid Pops," Snape managed to spit out, before taking off in a whirl of billowing robes.

That was a cool trick, Hadrian mused, I wonder if he gives lessons.

* * *

Dumbledore's office was much the same as ever, the Headmaster sat behind the large desk, Fawkes was perched on his... perch, and there were an obscene number of magical instruments which all appeared to either be humming or spinning on Dumbledore's desk.

The large amount of people in the room was what gave Hadrian pause.

Minister Fudge, Professor Gaunt, Professor Dumbledore, Lucius Malfoy, Mrs. Weasley, a woman with dark curly black hair, and Father. Needless to say the large office was quite crowded.

"Hello, Mr. Black I see that Professor Snape was able to locate you."

Hadrian raised a single black eyebrow in question.

"Yes, Professor. Why was I summoned here?"

Not much appeared to be making sense.

"There have been several petitions for a change in your custody, Mr. Black, which have been made by the Weasley's and the Tonks. The Minister thought it would be prudent to discuss your own personal preference in a non formal setting."

They wanted him comfy before putting the whammy on him. They wanted to take him away from Father, just after he'd gotten one, sickness curled in the pit of his stomach.

Lucius Malfoy seemed to take pity on him, and gestured to the one empty chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. Hadrian sat. Swallowed. Tried to get rid of the lump in his throat so that he could form words.

Fudge seemed to take this as his cue to start talking.

"Hello Mr. Pot- er Mr. Black," changing his statement quickly after the look Draco's father sent him.

"There have been several requests made by the families present for a transfer of custody from your Father, Sirius Black, to the Weasley family and the Tonks family." Mr. Malfoy appeared to have taken over the conversation effortlessly. The man's eyes were deceptively kind; liquid silver just like his son's.

"And sir, what if I don't wish to be removed from my Father's care?" they hadn't even given a SINGLE reason why he would be removed from Father.

Fudge cut in, hurrying to reassure him.

"We would, of course, never take you away from Lord Black if that's truly what you desire, however if you wished to have... another, perhaps... more appropriate placement we wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't offer that option."

Hadrian stared at Fudge, rage bubbling up inside him.

"Minister, I'm curious do you know ANYTHING about Blood Adoption?"

The man in the green bowler blustered, face turning puce.

"Well, Mr. Black, I never, you really shouldn't-"

"Yes Minister, I should! Because had you managed to make yourself informed on said topic, then you would know I wouldn't have been able to become Father's son without wanting it. The Blood Adoption would have killed us, you would have known that despite my status as the Boy-Who-Lived," he spat the title out with scorn,

"I cannot bend the laws which govern the magical world despite the contrary beliefs on the market today. You might recall from your Hogwarts days," the although I doubt it was implied,

"that Blood Magic is not some new off shot branch that erupted in the last millennia but has been in existence for far longer than your ancestors could ever acclaim to have walked this earth!

But perhaps you believe me a fool, an ignorant child unable to grasp a few simple Magical Theory concepts! You know I think they're wrong about politicians; I don't think you're a vulture, I consider you to be something a vulture might eat." There was no excuse for Fudge's behavior, much less the Weasley's or the Tonks.

For the past thirteen years he'd been the Dursley's victim and not a single accusation or sign of abuse had been enough to warrant a change in custody. But now as soon as Sirius became his Father, through something as binding as Blood Adoption, at the very drop of the hat people were clamoring at the doors to adopt him.

It was vile. Disgusting. A wretched double standard that said alot about the people he had previously associated with. It basically said that those belonging to a dark family could shove it, that they were worth less than how they treated muggles if the Ministry was able to show such distrust in their own kind.

Mr. Malfoy had come along for the ride, come to see the fall out from the blast. Hadrian's mind cast back to what Father had said after discovering that the Malfoy's had dropped the custody request after learning of the Blood Adoption.

"Malfoy's a Slytherin, Hadrian, they don't fight wars they know they can't win. It's a matter of self preservation, if you want to be on the winning side of any battle join up with the nearest snake."

The vague emotions he'd seen in Mr. Malfoy's eyes earlier had been amusement, and a mixture of predatory hunger at the damage he could inflict upon his enemies with his effortless triumph.

The Minister drew himself up to his full height, which admittedly wasn't much.

"Mr. Black, I have never been so insulted in my life, you ought to show more respect when speaking to your betters! I am your elder and you will obe-"

"Minister, I'm going to use a Muggle term, and I'd just like to make you aware that I don't expect an answer. However; when you decided to come here, what exactly were you smoking in that pipe of yours? Because what I'm currently witnessing is the Minister for Magic whose acting (at least I hope you're acting) like he's a few french fries short of a Happy Meal.

And yes, I would wager to say that it's a good thing you're so insulted, and that I can't believe no one has called you out on your incompetence before.

For Merlin's sake, Minister, how closely related are you to wizard kind for you to be able to pronounce words over three syllables, with all the pressure you've been recently putting on magical beings I doubt your ancestors were even hominids with all the intelligence you've shown today. I'd wager to guess all those ancestors must number in the millions; it's hard to believe that many people are to blame for producing you."

I may not know everything, and have never pretended to, but please, don't treat me like I'm a stupid, quite frankly it's an insult to yourself.

And as for my betters, I think you'll find that there are few who can claim to have gained my respect enough to receive the title 'my betters' you on the other hand couldn't gain the respect of a flobberworm.

You know what your problem is, Minister." he sneered the title (Draco gave lessons in contempt).

"The trouble with you is that you lack the power of conversation, not the but not the power of speech. You've taken this situation and bludgeoned it to death with all the sensitivity of an axe.

It's like Marx said, "He may look like an idiot, and talk like an idiot, but don't let that fool you. He really is an idiot." Now Hadrian drew himself up to his full height, thoroughly enjoying the stares he was getting around the room.

"Now Minister you're so full of shit, you could pass for toilet."

Then in full view of Dumbledore's shocked eyes, Tonks and Mrs. Weasley's gaping mouths, Father's proud eyes, Lucius Malfoy's teeth working furiously on the inside of his cheek in an attempt from dissolving into girlish giggles, and Professor Gaunt's calculating stare; he billowed his way out, robes splayed out behind him as he prowled down the hall with a stride that Snape would have grudgingly approved of.

Fudge was left sputtering in his wake.

* * *

AN- I'm writing this from a laptop, not my usual chrome book (the samsung one is AWESOME) and the key board feels HUMONGOUS under my fingers. As always I have a singular request REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW I absolutely adore reading all you peoples have to say on every topic and in every which way you endeavor to say it. Say it in French, German, Spanish, or Latin and I'll respond happily (although my sentence formation and case usage may be faulty. Give me a break guys it's August I haven't been in school for months! :D :)

Up next: Hadrian/Draco plotting, Ron/Hermione confrontation HINT: something BAD is gonna happen, Sirius conversation, Snivellous revenge take (can we call it a spit take?), more Professor Gaunt! And an introduction of the new students!

Professor Gaunt: I know there is some confusion regarding him, however I want to clear it up; the Voldemort (that we all know and love) is POSSESSING HIM! It's not Voldemort looking all pretty in a new meat suit, or rather the body that Tommy is wearing IS the meat suit, but not Tom's meat suit... URGH you get it.

I hope everything is cleared up,

Your (every loyal) friend in time,

*Kasamira


	13. Chapter 13

Pre AN- Hello my lords and ladies of the manor I would like to present to you my latest work (DISCLAIMER) that I DO NOT OWN, because honestly why would I want what JK left at the end of the 7th book! That epilogue nearly had be puking! Why don't you just take subtly and smash it with a sledgehammer for all of it Jo had. I mean REALLY: Albus Severus Potter- is she trying to get the kid killed on the playground?

QUESTION: What do you guys think of slash? I'm kind of unaware of the general consensus in fanfiction about it is. Can anyone enlighten me, please?

Sneak peak at the next chapter (These are actually from the notes I've written for it)

Unforgiveables- a PROPER dueling club is started, this will include swords and daggers and pureblood training, involve Draco and Blaise and Theo,

Triwizard Tournament- tipping point! Big break for Sirius and Hadrian, Point of No Return! (Cliff hanger)

OH MY GOD there's a spider, it's coming from my ceiling, IT"S ON MY BED getitoffgetitoffgetitoff GETITOFF

P.S. No I was not kidding with that whole spider thing, that really happened, I wouldn't go in my bedroom for like two days after that! I HATE arachnids! WHY did they have to evolve/be created depending on your belief system (never let it be said I'm not politically correct :)

* * *

"Harry please!"

"He's not interested, Granger."

"No one asked you, Malfoy!"

"Oh that's rich coming from you Weasel! Hadrian told you to get lost, but here you are, trying to squeeze every last Knut-"

"QUIET! All of you."

They all looked at him, Ronald was red in the face and fuming, Hermione looked a mixture of angry and hopeful, and Draco was vengeful. Not a good combination for anyone present.

This was a confrontation that was long overdue. At least, in Granger and Weasley's minds, in Hadrian's the matter was already settled. But, obviously his wishes weren't going to be respected.

So he would have to deal with this.

"Draco, cousin thank you for your support but I would ask that you let me handle this on my own."

Hadrian looked at his cousin, wishing for the other to understand that despite all his prejudices against his two former friends, they were just that; his former friends. Former friends who had meant a great deal to him, and they were people Hadrian never wanted to see again; he had to do this by himself. Not with the blonde's help.

"Really Harry!" exclaimed Hermione indignantly, "You have him treating us like we're some sort of criminals! We've already apologized! Can't you just forgive us?"

Hadrian looked at her, unsure how to form a response.

"Hermione... Ron... you want me to forgive you correct? Accept your apology?" he was rewarded with furious nods from Hermione, and a short sulky one from Ron whose face was still blazing maroon.

"Then I would like to ask one thing; what are you apologizing for?" he was serious, the emerald eyed Slytherin wanted to know what they were sorry for.

The flush crept back into Hermione's cheeks; the witch never liked admitting when she had been wrong... about anything.

"I-I hardly think that's necessary, H-Harry. We've already apologized for our actions and have expressed our regret, the only reasonabl-"

"You've apologized for your actions, Hermione? How is that possible when you can't even say what you did?! For Merlin's sake Hermione you can't even speak my NAME!" He took a step towards her, amused when she copied his motions in reverse; taking a step backwards.

"You knew, Hermione." he whispered, still advancing. "Both of you knew what I went through at the Dursley's. I TOLD YOU! Ronald had to rescue me from my cage. Literally, a cage. Bars on the windows, a cat flap on the door, and an insane number of locks that Fred and George had to pick the muggle way to get my trunk. Which was locked downstairs in the cupboard, which had been my room until I was eleven. "

A sneer passed Hadrian's lips as he gazed out at their shocked faces.

"I would be interested to know if that's how all magical children, who have found themselves in Dumbledore's care have ended up, or if I'm just a singular event."

He looked long and hard at each of them.

"You both knew that Dumbledore was my magical guardian... well, I guess you three were just playing me for a fool! Because I guess, in the wizarding world it's ok for a child to be abused by their relatives as long as their guardian is aware and supports the abuse." Sarcasm heavy in his voice.

Ronald exploded.

Taking two steps forward, and shoving Hadrian backwards against the marble staircase, getting in his face.

"You're a snake! The hat put you in Slytherin because that's where you belong!" the boy was furious, puffing hot breaths out against Hadrian's face. Ronald needed a breath mint.

"Is that supposed to be insulting? You of all people Ronald should view being sorted into Slytherin as being an honor, not a defamation of character."

"An honor?!" sneered the red haired boy, "You've betrayed us all! I don't want your apology, I don't want you to ever come near me again you, just stay in your snake pit, Hadrian! It's where you belong!"

Disgust was apparent on each face that spoke to how much faith they had in the others life decisions.

Hadrian smiled. Green eyed glittering, maliciously.

"Good, Ronald. Because I wouldn't want there to be any other outcome. Really, Weasley you must understand that a blood traitors presence grows vile after an extended period of time." and with that final snub, he gave the red haired buffoon a final shove, so he could get off the marble railing.

Ron lost it again, and as the emerald eyed fourth year had taken his first step down the stairs the youngest Weasley boy rushed behind him and gave an almighty shove.

Hermione screamed.

There were a great many of floors in Hogwarts castle, and classes on every single level, Divination was even held in the attic of the North Tower. Up in that singular tower was a bony fly-like woman who took a large amount of enjoyment from explording her own Inner Eye. With the help of a little sherry.

Along with classes there were houses from top to bottom: Slytherin in the dungeons, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw in their individual towers. And though it was yet to be discovered by many in their fourth year; the Room of Requirement was on a fifth floor corridor.

Hadrian had been on his way to meet Luna in the Ravenclaw Tower. He was six floors up, and still climbing.

On the first landing that Ronald Weasley shoved his former friend down, Hadrian didn't suffer much damage. He had instinctively curled into a ball, after much the same treatment from his relatives over the years.

However, the first hit on the marble staircase knocked the wind out of the small boy, and crumpled his formation.

The next floor he slammed into Draco, who had been standing at a distance to observe. Hadrian's cousin's fingers had scrambled to find purchase in his robes and ultimately failed. And was only able to watch in horror as Hadrian Black proceeded to fall down another two floors before a crowd of Ravenclaws managed to catch him with a spell that reduced his velocity.

* * *

Waking up in the Hospital Wing was never an enjoyable experience, it always seemed to include various pains and aches throughout his body, and an unending throbbing in his head. Waking up Hadrian felt worse off than when he'd passed out.

Blurry eyes opened slowly, cringing at the brightness of the Hospital Wing. Taking a quiet stock of his body's facilities. There was a heaviness in his chest that worried him, and bandages were wrapped around his torso, one of his arms was in a sling, and there was a muddiness in his head that worried him. It slowed his movements and reactions, but didn't necessarily hurt; more like his head was stuffed with cotton.

When Hadrian finally came into full awareness he realized that there was a hand on his chest, clasping his own. Draco.

His cousin was half lying on his hospital bed, head slumped into the white bed clothes; passed out. Hadrian closed his eyes; a slow smile creeping up along his lips.

* * *

"You've got a concussion, Mr. Black, a concussion, two cracked ribs, and a torn deltoid in your left arm." said Madam Pomfrey, bustling around him and attempting to convince him she would spoon feed him.

"It's a miracle you weren't injured further, Mr. Black. I do say, though this is ridiculous! In the Hospital Wing just after the start of school, and taking such a fall off the staircase in the seventh floor corridor. Lucky you didn't go over the railing! And then where would you have been! If you ask me, which no one does, there should be enchantments to prevent children from having such accidents! We're witches and wizards are we not! Then why are we behaving like Muggles! Even muggles have railings at schools meant to keep their students safe!" the witch ranted furiously, still checking him over with her wand prodding at various parts of his body.

Hadrian felt a thrill of rage go through his head, his teeth clenched, but unfortuantely that upset his head concussion, and the pounding on his poor cotton stuffed head resumed with ferocity. This had been no accident.

"And the young Mr. Malfoy has been here for days! Absolutely refused to leave even after I tried to kick him out for the night, said he wanted to be here when you woke up. You have a good cousin, Mr. Black. He was worried for you, never seen the young Malfoy heir more worried about another before."

Warmth seemed to spread through Hadrian's chest, originating at Draco's hand and spreading out from it. Looking over at his cousin the emerald eyed teen could see how exhausted the other looked; dark circles reigned across his pale skin, and the boy's eyes seemed slightly sunken in, lips dry and cracked. In the short time Hadrian had had a relationship with the blonde he knew what close attention the other paid to his appearance.

"Madam Pomfrey?" he called softly, anything louder would not behave well with his injuries.

She turned toward him, surprise lighting her face, as though she'd forgotten he was even capable of speech.

"Yes, dear?"

"Could you put him in a bed, please? I know Draco has to be exhausted." he requested, looking up at her pleadingly.

Her countenance softened, regarding him with gentle eyes.

"Of course, dear. The young Mr. Malfoy has been terribly concerned about you." the nurse leaned in close, and whispered conspiratorially, "Not that he would ever admit such a thing." then winked slyly.

"And Madam Pomfrey could you request that my father and my Head of House come to the Hospital Wing?"

"You wish for Sirius Black and Severus Snape to be in the same room?" it was spoken half questioningly and half in disbelief that anyone would ever be that foolish.

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey." he confirmed.

"Might I ask why?" anyone would want to know why he was putting two such volatile elements together in such close proximity. Madam Pomfrey was, after all responsible for the upkeep of the Hospital Wing. It simply wouldn't do for the infirmary to look as though a nuclear warhead had been unleashed upon the wing.

Then again, Hadrian reflected, father and Snape would be worse.

"Of course. I need to contact my father to begin to open the proper legal channels in order to sue the young Mr. Weasley for assault, and perhaps attempted murder."

* * *

To say the atmosphere was tense would have been like saying the York's and the Lancastor's had little bit of animosity between the two of them. Hadrian was simply grateful there had been no life threatening curses thrown around. Those things shouldn't be allowed in the presence of children.

In the end there had been several more people present then just the two Hadrian had requested. Draco had woken up (claiming he'd simply fallen asleep in the midst of some challenging Transfiguration homework), and when he'd learned of his cousin's plans had instantly firecalled his father.

Also, Snape had refused to be alone in a room where he was outnumbere so Professor Gaunt had been enlisted in babysitting. Dumbledore had also caught wind of what everyone else was up to and had shown up unexpectedly and refused all attempt to get him to leave.

Now the body count stood at seven. Draco (who had begged and pleaded Mr. Malfoy to be able to stay; which hadn't worked. Then father, in an attempt to publicly disagree with the man said Draco could stay). Hadrian who was the subject of the attack.

Father, who he'd requested come. An acquaintance of his father's who was an expert in wizarding law (through experience), Dumbledore, Snape, and Gaunt.

"My son was attacked!"

"I highly doubt something so dramatic occured, Black."

"According to the law, a memory of the event is admissible in court, Mr.-ah Snape."

"It is Professor Snape-"

"Would anyone like a lemon-"

Oddly enough it was the adults that were fighting, while the children sat back and watched with glee. And their parents said they were immature. Professor Gaunt and Mr. Malfoy seemed to share their opinion, based on the perpetually amused expressions on their faces. Finally it got annoying,

"So, Professor Gaunt how many inches for that report on the effects of the Cruciatus Curse?" he asked loudly.

Snape pounced, "We didn't come here to talk about your overdue homework, Black." he snarled.

Hadrian nodded solemnly, "Of course Professor, I completely agree. Have you finished your conversation with my father, so that we can talk about we came here for?"

"Your cheek, Black, just like that mangy dog of a father you have, will get you in trouble!" Snape looked enraged.

Hadrian couldn't resist goading the man just a bit further.

"I apologize Professor, I simply assumed that when I called this meeting we could have a conversation about the cause of the gathering."

"Ten points from-" Snape paled, then cut himself off, black eyes zooming furiously at Hadrian.

Father smiled nastily.

Mr. Malfoy gave a long suffering sigh, "Perhaps for the duration of the meeting the two of you can at the very least pretend to level headed adults willing to discuss the problem laid out before us."

Both men reluctantly nodded, looking grudgingly at each other; properly chastised.

"Mr. Potter, I would like you to tell us what happened." Draco's father had become the official spokesperson, apparently.

"I was having a confrontation with Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley on the staircase leading up to the seventh floor corridor. I attempted to end the conversation and leave, and when I turned to go down the staircase towards Draco, Ronald shoved me from behind. Which then caused me to fall down several floors."

Straight to the point, there was no reason to delay things further.

"And you wish to pursue legal charges against, Mr. Weasley." the law expert finished.

"Yes."

"And Mr. Black are you aware that you have no evidence that it was Mr. Weasley who attacked you?" Snape questioned him.

"Actually Professor, Draco is my witness, he was there the whole time with me. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we examined the memory to determine whether or not it truly was Ronald who assaulted me. After all I suppose it could have been Hermione."

His cousin, had nodded instantly.

"It was Weasley, Professor. He came up behind Hadrian and shoved him down the flight of stairs while Granger watched. I would be happy to give a memory should this go to trial."

"Now now Mr. Black and Mr. Malfoy, let's not get ahead of ourselves." Dumbledore reprimanded, chuckling slightly. "I'm sure this matter can be resolved in a way other than legal ramifications on Mr. Weasley's part. For Merlin sake the boy isn't even here to defend himself."

Father looked at Dumbledore coldly.

"A student of yours just tried to kill my son, and you suggest that we DON"T pursue this!"

Dumbledore shook his head, eyes twinkling. "Not at all, Sirius my boy, Ronald would most surely be punished and I myself would give him a very stern talking to about student safety and, oh- what do the Muggles call it? Oh yes, anger management."

Father's voice was deadly calm, but his deep blue eyes were arctic.

"You suggest anger management sessions when my son is recovering from an attempt on his life with a concussion, three cracked ribs, a broken arm, and countless bruises."

"Why don't you let the young Mr. Black speak for himself." it seemed everyone wanted to get their two cents in as quick as possible; Snape included.

Sirius rounded on the greasy haired Potions Professor, hands clenched, nearly boiling over with rage.

"Perhaps you haven't been privy to the blatant and obvious workings of the wizarding world Snape, but in my experience; as Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, children are to be protected. And not placed at undue risk. I'll have you know Dumbledore I'm seriously considering withdrawing Hadrian from Hogwarts after the last few years escapedes. There is no excuse for it! The number of times my son has nearly met his end in this school is apalling!"

Professor Gaunt finally made his entrance.

"It doesn't appear as if this verbal tennis match is getting us any further to a conclusion, so how about we stay on topic. Lord Black, if you intend to pursue legal charges what will they be? And Headmaster if you wish to prevent Lord Black from pursuing such charges what punishments do you deem fit to give Mr. Weasley should Lord Black drop the charges? And finally, Lord Malfoy what is the position of Board on this matter?"

The DADA Professor's dark eyes pierced them all sternly, as though they were children after being caught squabbling with each other. Hadrian almost expected them to apologize to each other at the other man's disappointment.

"I plan on charging Mr. Weasley with the attempted murder of my son. Should that prove to be ineffective or avail me with less than satisfactory results I would lower the charges to assault and battery." Father was pulling out the big guns. Hadrian knew that had this been a regular conversation where his life hadn't been threatened, Sirius never would have spoken like this. The other man detested politics, and as a result; legal matters. Father had a deep seated dislike of them, after being treated to them in his childhood, and then betrayed by it during his incarceration.

Mr. Malfoy was more diplomatic.

"The Board is fully backing myself for the expulsion of Mr. Weasley and supporting Lord Black in his attempts to charge Mr. Weasley."

The Headmaster looked defeated for the first time during the meeting, the man looked weary, and the deep wrinkles pierced the skin of his face. His age was finally beginning to show, and as his aged hands steepled grey temples he spoke.

"I must confess that I do agree with the conclusion the Board has come to. Mr. Weasley did indeed commit a grave mistake against his peer, but I would like to remind you all that the young Mr. Weasley is merely fourteen years old and has acted in a moment of anger. He should be punished, that is not in dispute, however the extent of his punishment should be decided by those with a level minded conscience. I do not believe that Azkaban should be considered an appropriate punishment for such a young soul."

It was Professor Gaunt who spoke next, his dark eyes lingering questioning upon the Headmaster; reserving judgement, for now.

"Then what would you advise, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore sighed deeply, world weariness catching in his normally vibrant blue eyes.

"It is never an easy decision to come to, my boy, for anyone, much less a Headmaster as the protector of all my students to admit he has allowed such a failing on his part. I believe it must be a defect to be reflected upon myself rather than on the young Mr. Weasley, the blame must be partially deferred to myself. And as a first time offender I would request that Ronald not be charged. In our youth we all make mistakes, and I think it would serve everyone in this room well to hear that Ronald is not alone in that regard. Sirius for instance, I'm sure can recall several questionable decisions made in your Hogwarts career, that, had they not been forgiven could have had quite grave results."

Suddenly there were two gravely pale wizards in the room.

But most surprisingly was Snape, his pitiless eyes held a thin string of remembered fear in them, and his long potion stained hands were trembling softly. Hadrian didn't believe it to be with fear, but rather rage, towards his employer.

"Headmaster, I would advise you to cease with your manipulations if you wish for many of us to remain here." the Potion's Master's voice was silky, but with a harsh note just underneath it, that spoke of bitterness.

This was going nowhere. He and Father had both spoken their bit and Mr. Malfoy had revelaed the Board's intent clearly. Dumbledore was pleading for understanding. Professor Gaunt and Snape had been observers of the proceedings and had assited in regaining order when necessary. There was nothing left to say on the matter.

Father seemed to reach the exact same conclusion his son had. He stood.

"I would like some time alone with my son, this conversation has been quite ardous, and Hadrian needs all the rest possible to recover fully from the attack."

Madam Pomfrey, who had just appeared from nowhere, seemed more than willing to do all the manual labor of ejecting the Hospital Wing's occupants. She shooed them out like a pro, wand held threateningly alot in her hand and a fierce countenance that spoke of decades of chasing out troublemakers and forcing various students to swallow the "healing" concoctions the Potions Master had made.

"You said in your last letter you needed to speak to me." Father murmured softly, taking a seat in the chair that had been vacated by Draco.

The elder wizard's concerned eyes lingered on his arm in it's sling and on the bandages on his chest. Concern tightened his handsome features.

Hadrian coughed lightly, reaching for a glass of water on his bedside table.

"Yeah, I need to talk to you face to face. No mirrors or letters, it's not the sort of thing I wanted to say with others around, and the letters could have been intercepted. I- I need your help, Father." Getting the words out was difficult, but after confessing the need for help a huge weight felt as though it had been lifted off his chest.

"Is there something else wrong, Hadrian?" even more worry shining through Sirius' blue eyes.

"Yes Father," he looked up at the man, "I want Snape gone."

Something vicious gleamed in the elder man's eyes, "In what way would you like me to... get rid of him."

Hadrian hoped the man was teasing.

"Not that way, I don't want him dead, father, just gone from Hogwarts. The man has no business teaching in a school, least of all with children. I'm positive that if you give me five minutes in the Hufflepuff common room we'll have more than a case to get him dismissed for the things he's done in class."

Sirius looked at him with narrowed eyes, "And what has he done to you now that you're in his house?"

Father knew him too well.

"The usual insults; about me, my parents, you, my heritage. The only thing that's changed is that he now attempts to take points away from his own house now. It's a regular occurrence in Potions class to hear, "Ten points from-" before the man abruptly cuts himself off, and throws another death glare at me."

Father smirked, enjoying when Hadrian leaned in close and whispered.

"The force is not strong in that one."

Laughter was not something that often filled the hospital wing at Hogwarts, it was a feat Hadrian was proud to achieve, before the subject turned to darker topics.

"What's wrong?"

"There's a problem at Hogwarts."

Looking up at him, Hadrian was suddenly lost for words. How could he continue? How would his father ever understand? The man had never been bullied or tormented as a child in school, he'd never been a Slytherin, he'd never been at the disadvantage, or the one looked down upon.

Father looked at him, "Hadrian." and it was in that single word, he understood. Sirius wouldn't ridicule him, wouldn't mock him, the very thought was ridiculous.

"A last year two students were attacked on their way back to the Slytherin dorms after Quidditch practise... over forty percent of their bodies had been burned by the Reductor curse, and Madam Pomfrey had to regrow eight broken bones between two students. They were assaulted by a group of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, Father." for a long time Hadrian said nothing, anger pervading his thoughts, before resuming his speech.

"The perpetrators were given two weeks detention, Father. Two weeks! For torturing and nearly killing two people, they had to clean out the greenhouses with Sprout."

For a long moment neither of them said a word.

"How would you like me to proceed with this, Hadrian? Do you want me to bring this to the attention of their parents? Or would you like to handle it yourself?"

The words were so unexpected, Hadrian nearly forgot to pick his jaw up off the floor. Father had made it very clear that in the wizarding world, children were not usually given such freedom, or options to choose things for themselves. It didn't help that father was overprotective, this unexpected show of trust was something he would leap on.

"I'd like to handle this myself." this wasn't an opportunity he'd pass up, father had entrusted two lives into his hands, and Hadrian didn't want to disappoint.

"Then I'll support you in any way I can."

* * *

Draco and Hadrian were in a heated discussion, with the blonde doing what he did best; plotting dastardly acts.

"Plotting music," Draco muttered, "I need plotting music!"

"Stress getting to you cousin?"

Dray sneered,"You know if you keep doing that your face is going to stay that way, and then where will you be? You'll never get a girlfriend."

They were stressed. It was Halloween night and they were putting the final touches to the plan, the two of them had been working furiously to finish by their deadline. Tonight was the night, tonight was the night that those two Slytherins were avenged.

Tonight the new schools would be introduced, and tonight the two of them were sick, holed up in the Slytherin dorms. And tonight after weeks of preparation their chance had finally arrived.

But not it was time, the fire in the room seemed to grow brighter at the embers for one brief moment when Hadrian touched Draco's shoulder, a silent question in his eyes.

"Don't ask me if I'm sure, Hadrian."

He smiled.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Reaching over to the large mahogany table the emerald eyed boy snatched his invisibility cloak, and pulling Draco closer to him so they would fit underneath. The fifth floor corridor was deserted, everyone was making their way down to the feast.

They took the two Gryffindors first, when they were making their way down the trip step staircase, towards the back of the hungry crowd making its way towards the Great Hall. Draco slamming into one, and knocking the boy off balance and plunging his leg into the trick step all the way up to his knee. The boy's friend stopped to help him up, loping an easy hand around shoulders to pull the boy up and out.

That was when they struck.

Two quick Stupefies felled both of them nearly soundlessly, twin bodies fell into their armes, before being dragged swiftly behind a corner away fom prying eyes.

"Bloody hell, I wish we had a few more of these cloaks, Hadrian." Draco whispered as they petrified the two bodies, and then wrapped both of them in the invisibility cloak.

Hadrian chuckled, "Mobilicorpus." in under the minute two Gryffindors had gone from walking down to the Great Hall to being petrified, wrapped in James Potter's cloak, and floating gently down the hall at the end of their wands.

To ensure that no portraits saw them he and Draco took the secret passageway behind the mirror, the one that had gotten caved in some time ago. With a little work a few days earlier (a stability charm to ensure the walls wouldn't collapse, and a few banishing charms and all the debris was gone) the entire passageway was cleared out and they had a large space all to themselves.

Once arriving, Draco had dumped the bodies onto the hard stone floor, and ripped the cloak off of them. While to his right Hadrian perfected the last of the warding chams he'd been learning; silencing barrier so nothing would escape the passageway, a locking barrier that prevented against the Alohomora charm, so no one could enter. And finally a charm that wasn't meant for the room around them, but for both Draco and Hadrian's wands.

It stripped them, wiped away all traces of the magic they were going to cast during the next hour, if anyone checked their wands to see what spells they'd cast while sick only a few cleaning charms would appear.

He turned to Draco, eyes glowing brightly in the lightless tunnel.

"Lumos," a brilliant candle of soft yellow light appeared at the end of Hadrian's wand, before gently breaking off and floating over to the stone walls. It's little tendrils of light crawled up the sides until reaching a point midway up the damp stone.

The stone pasegeway was more of a cavern, spacious, and now well lit. Shadows seemed to climb the walls and corners his lumos spell didn't reach and linger there observing the proceedings curiously.

There was a table in the center of the room, that had been placed there four days ago. It was sturdy, made of oak wood, with eight legs throughout its length. More than able to hold two stupefied forms.

With the Mobilicorpus spell still in effect Draco directed the bodies onto the oak structure, before securing them swiftly; eagle spread and bound so they would be unable to move or struggle. Draco's eyes pierced him, flooded with warmth, and a righteous anger that wasn't usually apparent. His eyes were like molten silver, roiling inside his skull.

"Wake them up."

"Enervate."

Two pairs of eyes opened to look up at them.

Hadrian and Draco stared back down impassively at their captives. His cousin's eyes were filled with a disturbing amount of eagerness at what was to come.

"What the bloody hell are we doing here!" spat Cormac McLaggen, to his right on the table Romilda Vane's eyes shown with fear and panic.

* * *

"STOP!"

"STOP THIS! You can't do this to us!"

Hadrian looked down at the two of them curiously.

"And why can I not do this? Are you going to stop me, in your current position?" he ran an amused eye over over their figures, which were currently helplessly bound to the table.

"Dumbledore will expel you!" exclaimed Vane in panic.

Both of their eyes flickered furiously around the dimly lit room, widened eyes flashing in panic at their situation; eagle spread on an oak table at the mercy of two Slytherins who had vengeance on their minds and hell to pay.

"Do you remember what you did to those two Slytherins? How you attacked them on their way back to the common room? Do you remember how they screamed? How you took their wands from them and attacked from behind like the cowards you claim us to be?"

Draco didn't intend for his questions to be answered, he didn't want to hear the replies that the two Gryffindors would say. The two of them were vile, there was no other suitable term for people like them.

He slithered toward them, wand held loosely in hand, there was no need to rush this, they had some time to spare. The blonde let his wand trail across the table, as he circled them, the wood made soft scraping noises as Draco came closer. Closing in on the two of them in a game of cat and mouse- with the mice too paralyzed to move.

"You can't do anything to us." said McLaggen defiantly, still disbeliving that Draco would bring him any harm.

"Oh really, then tell me Cormac what exactly is stopping me from doing to you exactly what you did to those Slytherins?"

The boy made a helpless sputtering noise.

"The Headmaster would have your head! You can't attack us and get away with it!"

This time it was Hadrian who spoke.

"And why not? You did."

Romilda looked at him tearfully, "Harry please, you can't let him do this to us! We're housemates, we're supposed to protect each other."

Hadrian looked down at her coldly.

"You're right on all counts Vane, housemates protect their own. That's exactly what I'm doing here right now. And for Merlin's sake what do you think Draco's going to do to both of you that I won't?"

He bent over the black haired girl, placing both hands beside her head, threateningly.

"Don't worry, Romilda I'm not going to kill you. You deserve to get exactly what you gave. So just calm down, relax and try to enjoy the proceedings." Hadrian smirked maliciously, "I think just this once we can forgo the 'ladies first' rule, don't you think, Draco?"

His cousin was practically vibrating with eagerness, molten silver eyes trailing up McLaggen like he was food for a starving man, ready and able to tear him apart.

"Oh, and Romilda, it's Hadrian. The niceties must be observed- after all we wouldn't want our parents to think we weren't being courteous to one another."

* * *

AN- I've almost made 100 reviews, my lovely lords and ladies, can you get me there? Please please PLEASE with a nice cherry on top?

Your friend in time,

*Kasamira

P.S. Do you want a full out revenge scene in the next chapter, or an aftermath? Right not I'm leaning more towards revenge since I still have those two Hufflepuffs to take care of.

P.S.S. You guys thought it would be two GUYS! Don't lie! You SO did! *giggles* I've always thought with the whole love potion Romilda had a dark side to her.


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